Violet Eyes
by Doodled93
Summary: Bloodlineish story! Kyuubi is sick and tired of how Naruto acts, so he does a little diging in his DNA during wave mission, substitutin' this, adding a lil of that. Naruto's now seeing spots and knowin WAY too much. Maybe NaruHarem? Rated M 4 probability
1. Chapter 1 the beginning

Hey! this is my first story so please be gentle in your reviews! I appreciate input but if one of your descriptions for it is "shitty"... please keep it to yourself, or find a different word please! :P

I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in the anime/manga... sad isn't it? :'(

CHAPTER 1!!!

Teme=bastard

Dobe= dead last/loser

Baka= idiot

Sensei= refers to teacher (Mr. /Ms.)

Why did things always have to go wrong when it comes to my life? Seriously, everything is screwed up. How, you may ask, had things in one Naruto Uzumaki's life gone so wrong? Well… he was _supposed_ to have a normal childhood (family, friends, etc…) – but he had no clue as to who his parents were and the villagers seemed to have a major grudge on him, treating him like he had a plague of some sort… not sure if pranks deserved THAT kind of reaction…

He was _supposed_ to go to the academy, make friends, and graduate (that was a must – couldn't be Hokage without graduating). Instead, he only had a few _real_ friends and most (if not all) of his classmates thought he was an idiot… to top off _that_ situation, when he graduated, it was on his 3rd try (more like 3rd and a half), and only because he was tricked by Mizuki-Sensei into borrowing (not stealing) the forbidden scroll and managed to learn a Jounin level jutsu, and beat Mizuki-sensei with said jutsu. AND he found out that apparently he was the vessel for the nine tailed fox, Kyuubi, who apparently killed Iruka-sensei's parents along with his and a whole lot of other kids parents, leading the older generation to hate him.

He was also supposed to, after graduating, get put on the same team as the love of his life and someone else tolerable (Shikamaru or Chouji maybe), as well as give his first kiss to his love of his life… but instead, while YES he got put on the same team as Sakura, he ALSO got put on the same team as the prick Sasuke-teme AND gave (unwillingly! Stupid random guy knocking him from behind) his first kiss to said prick! I mean, shit, if that wasn't screwed up, I dunno what is.

Aaand of course, NOW his C-rank turned A-rank mission is going wrong. Well, the "turned A-rank" part COULD be counted as going wrong (not to Naruto), what was really wrong was that he, Naruto, was stuck with the teme, Sasuke, in an icy trap made by the masked ninja (his nose told him it was Haku from the forest), dodging senbon (those needle weapon things) from what seems like all sides. Yes, it was really, truly, wrong.

He could see the needles speeding towards him, aiming to send him to his bloody, pointy (and surely pain filled) doom, when Sas-teme decided to play hero. What. The. Hell?!?

Why the heck did he do that? What the hell? He coulda dealt with it on his own! Really! So, again, why the fucking hell did he do that?

When he voiced his thoughts (not quite as angry sounding as he'd hoped but whatever), stupid Sasuke sprouted some lame-brain reply: "I don't know." LIAR! How in the hell would the so called "rookie of the year" NOT know why he had jumped in front of a lethal attack!?!

Wait..

Lethal?

Crappity Crap Crapper! He's Dieing! Fuck, and now he's muttering something about killing someone for revenge (surprisingly NOT Haku) or something?! He's got his priorities skewed if THAT's what he's thinking about when he's playing pin cushon… Fuck, what? Now he's playing fountain!!! Frig!

How the hell could he do that? How the hell could I let him do that? How the hell could Haku do that to the Teme?!?

His anger shifted from Sasuke, to himself, until it settled on the masked nin hiding in those stupid mirrors of his, his mind flooding with rage. Naruto felt himself filled with a bubbling heat, fire pumping through his veins, making him feels stronger, everything coming into sharp focus… it was actually starting to hurt… ow ow ow ow ow ow! Stupid mist particles! No- FOCUS! Don't get distracted! Hafta beat this guy so Sasuke can get some (maybe a lot) medical attention (Naruto could hear his heart beat, weirdly enough… it was slowing though)! Dammit, that guy Kakashi-sensei's fighting needs to be dealt with too! Now how the hell am I supposed to go about this?

~**break these mirrors and punch this guy in the face. Then, while he's distracted, make a dozen or so clones, and get half to Kakashi and have the rest circle you two**~

It made sense so didn't stop to question the weird voice he was hearing from the back of his head (never mind the fact that he HAD a voice that was very obviously not his in his head).

Shooting forwards toward where he felt the fake hunter nin was (don't ask him how he felt it, he just did), he punched his way through it – sadly enough it was ONLY the icy mirror, so he pivoted and followed where he knew Haku escaped to, slamming out a burst of energy to speed himself up (apparently it was a big burst because he could hear it shatter the rest of the mirrors – wait, isn't that bad luck? fuck), he got in front of Haku. Shoving out some more energy to strengthen his blow, he plowed his fist into and through Haku's mask. As he sailed through the air (seemed like he was doing it in slow motion kind of), Naruto quickly made 15 clones, sending 8 to help Kakashi-sensei and having the rest surround him and the momentarily disoriented ninja.

~**Knock him out and kill him quickly**~

_I'm NOT killing him_

~**whatever**~

Not sure if the strange almost girlish voice meant Haku or the sword guy, he had a few of his seven clones pin Haku down and mentally told his other clones to knock out (ONLY knock out) their and Kakashi's opponent.

Getting to Haku, he couldn't help but ask why he did what he did. Haku ended up telling him about his old home, his "family" and how Zabuza saved him.

_Well I didn't ask for his life story, but maybe after we finish Gatou (haha, CAKE)they can come back with us to Konoha…_

Haku seemed to have noticed somehow that Zabuza was in trouble because he looked a little panicked and seemed to be preparing to break free.

~**knock him out already!!**~

_I'm getting to it! Jeesh!_ (Naruto tried not to think about the fact that he had a voice in his head telling him what to do and he was doing it)

Slugging Haku in the faceand knocking him out, he got one of his clones to tie him up (just in case) and left with the rest of his clones to help kakashi and protect Tazuna.

_Ouch,_ Naruto's eyes were seriously starting to sting like crazy, tearing up a little from it. His body was starting to achy and shakey too so he picked up speedbefore his adrenalin rush (what else could it be) left him and he started feeling his wounds from Haku again, before the fight was over.

_Sas-Teme you'd better be alright, I still owe you an ass kicking, you douche-bag._

The mist was clearing, allowing Naruto to see that only two of his clones were left with Kakashi (he looked a lil tiered but not life-threatening), and Zabuza was looking just about ready to keel over, but with way less wounds than Kakashi. Naruto used what mist was left to head around Zabuza, leaving one clone with Kakashi, one with Tazuna and Sakura (wtf? No friggen injuries?), and letting the rest dispel to get some chakra back. This also brought back some information; the clone he'd left with Haku and Sasuke had apparently (gently) moved both forms out of sight behind some equipment, and noticed that a hord of thugs were heading their way, led by a little greasy old guy with a cane and a broken arm.

~**Send a clone back there, henge into Haku, and play dead**~

Trusting the strange voice (and it WAS strange – it could just as easily be male as female and was strangely husky), Naruto did just that, making some plans of his own from the voices. Kakashi said something about finishing this, and Naruto saw him start to collect crackling energy into his hand.

"OY! Zabuza! What'd you do if that Cake guy wasn't paying you anymore, huh?" Naruto half-yelled (he would have yelled full out but his throat was throbbing a little)

"Stupid Brat, I wouldn't do anything! Killing the bridge builder ouldn't be my job anymore!"

Kakashi wondered what Naruto was doing, first missing out at a perfect sneak attack (or he could have just not thought about it… you couldn't tell with Naruto), and now starting a conversation (distracting him from finishing Zabuza off)? Sure it was a smart move sending the clones, but maybe that was the limit? Zabuza was wondering along the same lines…

Naruto hid his grin (not that hard to do actually, the throbbing in his throat had spread to encompass his mouth too), "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, that would mean that we wouldn't have to fight this guy any more right?"

"Hmm, I guess, why?"

From the sidelines, Sakura yelled "Naruto you Idiot! Why would that Matter?!?"

Naruto didn't get to reply because the mocking voice of whom he believed to be Gatou came from the unfinished end of the bridge.

(a/n: will be short version because he's annoying, but otherwise parallel to anime)

"Well well well,"came his smoke-rough voice, "the 'demon' of the mist getting beaten up by a bunch of kids! Hah! Seems like you aren't worth what you're charging me"

"Gatou, I'm handling this" Zabuza growled out.

By this point, Gatou had walked far enough in to see 'Haku', giving a mini-rant about how he was stupid and evil for breaking his arm, and spat and kicked 'Haku' in the side (Naruto had to concentrate to keep the clone from going poof, and then from having his clone jump up and kick him). Seeming to remember himself, he looked at Zabuza with an annoyingly superior look and said:

"well, you see, you're getting to be just too expensive, so I'm going to have to have you killed" this was supported with a couple of chuckles from the mob of thugs behind him.

Kakashi blinked, then looked to Zabuza. "are you sticking to what you said?"

Zabuza glared at Gatou as he kicked Haku's dead (for he must be or else he would have been at his side earlier or retaliating now) form replying "yeah, but now I have something else I need to do", he glanced sideways at Naruto.

"You'll have to pay for what you did to Haku later kid, for now, passme a kunai."

Naruto grinned and complied, saying "I have nothing to pay for", adding "you'll see" when he got a glare from him.

Zabuza shot forward, ripping through the thugs who got in the way of him and Gatou, ignoring spears and knives shoved into his body. When he finally got to Gatou, Naruto heard him say something about how in hell, while he would fit right in, Gatou wouldn't. Naruto shot forward, the weird voice muttering that if he killed the 'cake-guy' that close to the edge, he'd fall in and die, either from drowning or from his wounds. He managed to grab the large mist-nin before he fell, allowing his Haku-clone dispel, and pulling the nearly unconscious Zabuza around the momentarily dumb-struck thugs to where his clone'd told him he put Haku and Sasuke.

When Zabuza's eyes eyes widened seeing an obviously unconscious-but-breathing Haku, Naruto Grinned and said "see? Nothing to be sorry about"

Zabuza just laughed when he got set down next to Haku in his and Sasuke's hidden position, allowing him to get some rest.

Their happy little moment was shattered when the thugs came out of their stupor.

"what the hell? You just killed our Meal ticket! Now we'll have to ransack the village!"

a Chorus of "yeah!"'s followed that statement, cut off when an arrow landed in front of them

"We'll see about that" said the villagers (a/n same as in anime, long writing-short, they get driven off)

!Afterwards!

"Brat, why the hell'd you make everyone think Haku was dead?"

_jeeze, you'd think he'd be happier about Haku being alive, whatever, at least I know he cares if those tears earlier were anything to go by_

"It was to see if you were a good person… so anyway, since I've found that you're a caring jackass, how 'about coming to Konoha with us?"

Naruto was starting to wince, his eyes were hurting so badly.

Zabuza just looked at him blankly. "what?"

"well, ah, I'm, heh, I'm friends with old man Hokage and I'm sure he'd let you in, agh, even as a Ninja, ngh, although he'll probably hafta put you on probation for a lil *wince* for a lil while, since you're a missing nin and everything, but, ah, it'd still be better than being on the run, fuck, wouldn't it?"

Kakashi looked up from working on Sasuke, both at what Naruto was saying and from How he was saying it. what he saw shocked him: Naruto was rubbing furiously at his eyes, knees curled up in a semi-fetal position, body jercking and twisting at random moments in obvious pain.

"what's wrong Naruto?" demanded Kakashi, eyes filled with worry.

'hah, Haku just did some major, fuck, work on me that's all," he said with an almost half-grin. "I just don't get how he managed to get my eyes like this, that's some trick of his, frig, gotta remember to ask how he did this."

"what, did he hit you in the eyes?" asked Zabuza, some concern showing through his tough exterior for the little brat offering him and Haku a home (Naruto couldn't help but notice the small leak of almost parental pride leaking into his voice). "No, that's why I'm, friggen hell, curious… feels like a cross between having a major migrane and having some sort of mini-blender going on inside of my eyes, shit this's annoying, can you make it stop already?"

By this time both sasuke and Haku were returning to the land of the living, Haku looking to Zabuza to see if he was ok, and Sasuke, after prying a crying Sakura's arms from him, took in the situation. He first Noticed the Dobe… how could he not, when the dobe, seemed to be having an "internal" Battle (yes even HE could make sort of jokes)… he'd never sen Naruto cry, nor cry out in pain (only in outrage/shock/annoyance/any reaction really, just not pain), yet here he was, tears streaming, body curled up and shuddering from pain… what happened?

Before he could ask what happened and who did it, Kakashi turned to the brown haired kid now next to Zabuza and asked "What'd you do?"

Sasuke turned his patented Uchiha glare to the … boy? – Whatever, boy who'd done that to the dobe. Part of him was thinking _how dare he do that to the dobe?!_ While another thought where the hell'd he get the power to do that?! And yet another thought _what the hell'd he do to Naruto to keep him down AFTER a fight? That's not how it works with Naruto… with him, you beat him down and he gets up right away! So what the hell'd he do to keep him down like this?!_ And his last thought was _this…boy… is dead_.

The soon to be dead "boy", apparently having been filled in on the situation while Sasuke was having his somewhat mixed thoughts, said "whatever happened to Naruto, I didn't do… I don't have the skills to be able to do this to an enemy"

"hmm… well then… what's wrong with Naruto then? Do you know how to stop whatever's happening to him?" asked Kakashi

"well – it could-"

_**CRACK**_

They were interrupted when the sound came from Naruto. There was silence, then a hesitant Sakura asked "…Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes were tightly closed, tears still streaming, mouth open in what they assumed was a silent scream (all of Team Seven thought that was an improvement… that Naruto would be al right since he's moved on from pain he couldn't hold in to pain he could… after all, _Naruto_ didn't cry out from pain). He was also as stiff as a board; curled up still… at least until another _**CRACK**_ broke its way through from his body. Both Kakashi and Zabuza recognized the sound now (Haku recognized it earlier)… it was bones breaking.

Naruto suddenly went lax, body limp on the unfinished bridge. Kakashi moved him onto his back, carefully removing his jacket and, after slight hesitation, starting to lift up his shirt, revealing his stomach, seal and all. _Thankfully, _Kakashi thought,_ Sasuke and Sakura won't know what it is and neither do the mist Nin… uh oh…_ the seal was glowing, red chakra flowing on and around it. before he could even think about how to explain it to the rest of the nin in the clearing, Naruto started screaming, sending a bolt of fear for the boy through everyone's chest. (A/n you've probably already figured this out… but it's not Naruto's pov any more… mainly because he's unconscious… the story'd be pretty boring if it was still his pov wouldn't it?)

Naruto was being swamped with red chakra, it looked as if it was both pouring from him and trying to force its way into him. When he started jerking around, the two older ninja tried to get to him to hold him down, but the force from the red chakra pushed them back, giving them burns for their troubles. A series of sickening snapping sounds rang through the clearing, heard even over the whipping and crackeling the red chakra, which seemed to now be burning Naruto himself, was making.

Seriously starting to get scared for his students life (ALL of them by now), Kakashi gathered his chakra around himself, hoping to be able to keep the burning red chakra off of himself with his own, he again tried to push his way through the barrier the chakra had made of itself, only to be thrown back towards his students. Through the red haze the chakra was making, Naruto seemed to be jerking around, looking as if he was sweating blood… _no,_ Kakashi thought, gut churning, _he isn't sweating blood, it's just that his skin's being burned off._

Naruto could be clearly heard, howling out in pain over any other sound, sounding inhuman from the pain, back arching harshly, limbs twisted at angles not meant to be, blood streaming everywhere, Kakashi wasn't sure if his hair had been burned off or if it was matted to his head with blood, either way he made a grisly sight. Kakashi felt as if he was in a daze from fright and horror at what was happening to his student, what he was powerless to stop. _No, this is not happening…_

Sasuke pov

_What? No, so much blood… what's wrong with the dobe? Why's this happening to him?_ Sasuke was barely aware of anything that was happening outside of what was happening to Naruto. Barely aware that Sakura had thrown up in the bush beside him. Barely aware that Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku were fighting to get to the dobe… Barely even aware that his wounds were starting to bleed again and he was shaking… there was just so much blood…

There was a horrible ripping sound, and the red chakra seemed to swell, before it all condensed, pushing in around Naruto, thickening until you could only see the barest outlines of his body. There was one last pain-filled cry from Naruto before the red chakra swelled a little, then absorbed back into his body.

There was utter silence in the clearing, no one moving as they stared at the unmoving bloody shape of Naruto. Kakashi moved forward, looking a little green as he looked down at his bloody student, tears wetting his mask. Sakura sucked in a shuddering breath, tears streaming down her face, Sasuke sitting next to her looking to the side, anywhere but at his downed rival. Haku's eyes were narrowed slightly, pain obvious in his eyes, Zabuza put his hand on his shoulder, nudging him to look.

Kakashi knelt down to his student, feeling for a pulse on his neck… after a minute his grim face lightened… there was a pulse, surprisingly strong pulse, but what mattered was that there WAS a pulse. "He's alive!" he said with a relieved sigh.

Sakura shot forward, bawling her eyes out and grabbed Naruto to shake his form, only stopping when Sasuke got to them, then hugging him to her, giving a teary smile to Sasuke. She changed targets for her hugging, alternating between Kakshi and Sasuke, sticking with him when Kakashi picked up her teammate, blushing slightly when she realised that she had been hugging Naruto when he was naked (his clothes had burned off with everything else).

:::::: At the house::::::

After making Tazuna keep himself and his daughter and Inari stay back, not wanting to make them see Naruto in such a bloodied state, he moved Naruto to his room, asking for a lot of bandages and a tub of water with a washcloth.

When he got what he asked for, he started washing the blood from him. He was really surprised to find that there wasn't anything to patch up underneath, the blood removed to reveal smooth tan flesh. When he finished with the worst of it (he couldn't do his hair… it had either grown back or hadn't been burned, but either way he had it and it was matted with blood), he did a check up on him to see if everything was working as it should. When he poked and prodded him, he felt that everything was where it should be, there didn't seem to be any muscle damage (though he felt like a soft rock), and, after remembering what a fuss Naruto had been making about his eyes, peeled them back to check them out.

He almost recoiled from shock. In the place of his usual expressive Blue eyes, there were violet eyes…well, not entirely violet… giving a second look, he took in more detail… the violet faded into Naruto's usual blue just around his pupil, which had become slitted, and around the edge of his iris (still inside of it though), the violet went red, darkening around the very edge. Now that he had recovered from his shock, he actually found that it seemed to suit him a little better… giving him a more exotic look… it helped that it was actually mesmerising the way it all blended together.

He put his pj's on him and let everyone in the room, half enjoying the shock they had of seeing him without a scratch on him.

Just what was happening to Naruto? He'd get his answers when he woke up, that's for sure…

~TBC~

hope you liked it! next chapter is hopefully going to be up next week... maybe shorter or longer than this one! Please REVIEW! suggestions appreciated and please no flamers!

~Doodled93~


	2. Chapter 2 purple isn't scary!

Hey, second Chapter! Thank you to those of you who reviewed! Yay my first two reviews! (and i realise that's not that much but still, my first story and all :D, so exciting!!)

Thank you **narutolover94** and **Alternative Angel**! Yes I realise that the chapter needed a little editing, and I'm glad you both liked the chapter! there's no real fight in this, but a lot of poking, (if that can make up for it). Hope you like this chapter too! hope everyone who reads it likes it, actually...

I do not own Naruto or any of the characters

Chapter 2

Naruto was in pain… well not exactly in pain, but the only other way to describe how he felt was that he was in _ache_. Like a mix between that 'healing bruise' ache and the 'I just trained my ass off' ache. But that just sounds strange, so he'd just say he was in pain.

_Ow_. His limbs felt as if they were made of lead, or at least some sort of extremely heavy material… and he had an itch. This itch was on his nose, like many itches seem to be… and it seemed to be there because his hair was touching it… since when was his hair that long? It felt like his hair had been matted with something earlier when he was semi-conscious, like he was now, but either he had imagined it or someone washed it out. Maybe it just fell off. Oh well… back to the matter at hand… well not at hand, since he couldn't really move his arms… well it felt like he couldn't… he hadn't tried yet, ok… one, two, threee – ugh, nope, can't move. Hmm, when he DID find a way to scratch his nose, he'd have to rub at his eyes too… they were all tingly, like… well he didn't know what it was like, it wasn't bad, just different… it was like… well he didn't know WHAT it was like, but it was a sensation that felt like it should be rubbed at… like that stupid itch on his stupid nose. Hmm… maybe if he just, humph, rolled over, ugh – there, _now I can rub my nose into the sheet._ There, one crisis over with, now if he could only do the same with his eyes… but the rub they needed couldn't be done with a sheet, hmm, the only time he'd felt a need to rub at his eyes lake this was that time.. on the… bridge…

Naruto suddenly remembered all that had happened, the teme being stupid, getting himself injured, that horrible rage that overcame him, the stinging, the aching… and the voice… the weird male yet feminine or female yet masculine voice that had suggested – no… more like told him what to do… and he did it…

Wait! The teme! Where is he? Is he alright? Is he dead? He knew Sakura was alright (not ONE scrape, jeeze), but what about the Teme? And Kakashi-sensei?

A new sense of purpose overcame him, worry for his friends /team-mates pushing him to move despite the fact that he felt as moveable as a mountain, moving first one arm, then the other, cracking open his eyes while pushing his legs underneath himself, fully intending to go demand answers from the first person he saw. There was a haze of red over his vision but it left as he pushed his hair out of his face.

He paused for a moment when he noticed the surreal-ness of the room… well, not the _room_ per se, but just the way it looked, and even then it wasn't the _way_ it looked… just the way it looked to _him_. Everything was in sharp focus, causing his eyes to hurt a little as he saw more detain in the chair across the room than he usually noticed – hell, more than he _wanted_ to notice – making the room tilt.

Kakashi walked in as he flopped back onto the bed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. Kakashi paused just inside of the doorway at the sound, chuckling softly when he recognised the groans as Naruto doing something that didn't agree with his body.

Naruto opened his eyes and frowned when he saw Kakashi… and normally that isn't how he would respond to seeing him (seeing as how he was majorly worried about him a few seconds earlier)… he was splotchy… or at least the spots dancing in front of his eyes make him look as if he was covered in marks, some red, some whiteish, a few glowing black… he rubbed at his still tingling eyes a moment, hoping to make the spots go away… looking again, he noticed they didn't. Focusing on Kakahsi as he made his way to him, carrying a bowl of soup, his frowned deepened… the spots weren't dancing around as they were supposed to… they were staying on the same points on him…_great, another thing that's going wrong when it comes to me…_ he sighed and rubbed at his eyes some more, Kakashi taking note of it, eyes lingering on the slight changes to his usual look… how had that happened?... was it a result of…?

"How are you feeling Naruto? Are your eyes ok? Seem to be bothering you…"

"Yeah, I'm feelin' alright… was a lil dizzy earlier, but now I'm just seeing weird spots…"

"Hnn, how so?" Kakashi asked, somewhat distractedly, lost in his thoughts about what had happened.

"You know how those weird spots usually dance around your vision, cutting off stuff?" Naruto said in-between gulps of soup.

"Yeah…"

"Well these spots aren't dancing. There sticking to you in the same spots! Even as you MOVE! It's annoying the hell outta me, I can still see clearly but it looks kinda like someone sprayed you with some splotches of glow-ish stuff" Naruto continued... still rubbing at his eyes.

"…really"

"yeah" Naruto replied, getting a little annoyed at Kakashi's lack of interest of something that was clearly bugging him, and HE was the one to bring up the subject of his eyes in the first place. Seeing a particularly bright red spot on Kakashi's shoulder, he jabbed at it, adding some chakra to add more force, "spots like HERE!"

Kakashi Jumped up with a moan, panting slightly as he really looked at him, small shudders running down his spine from what Naruto had just done… it hadn't hurt… it felt amazing actually.. and he poked one of those spots he's seeing? (yes he WAS listening… just thinking of something else).

"What'd you just do, Naruto? Tell me right now _exactly _what you did" demanded Kakashi.

Naruto, a little confused about the reaction he'd gotten from giving the poke (and a little worried from his sensei's expression), said "I… uh, I just, poked you on one of the spots… I added a little chakra so it hurt a little more than a normal poke… but really, it's your own fault! Why the hell'd you ask me if I was ok if you weren't going to pay attention?! – OH! And how's Sasuke? How're you? What happened? And – AH!"

Naruto, who started off looking to the side (a serious and focused Kakashi was a lil unnerving, okay!?), had remembered (again) that he had been knocked out (and therefore had no idea what had happened) and had crawled his way towards Kakashi-sensei… at least until his hand had slipped on the covers on the bed making him over balance onto the floor.

Naruto saw Kakashi give his version of a smile (eye turning into that upside-down 'U') and a thoughtful look.

_Why the hell does he have to think about whether or not he and Sasuke are alright?! Either you are or aren't!_ thought Naruto with a frown, righting himself and climbing back onto the bed.

"I think…"

Naruto gave him a look that clearly said 'hurry up'

"… you have a blood-line."

"…"

"…"

"… what the hell?! Stop trying to distract me! You must be okay if you can be like this, but what about Sasuke? He was playing pin cushion last time I saw him… OH! And what about Haku and Zabuza? Are they here? Are they coming to Konoha with us?"

Kakashi just sighed.

"I'm okay, Sasuke's ok, you can see him in a minute, you can also see Haku and Zabuza in a minute and ask them yourselves, and I wasn't trying to distract you… I really do think you have a blood-line trait – "

"and how d'you figure that?" Naruto demanded, interrupting him

"*sigh* how 'bout I just show you?" and with that he grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him across the room to stand in front of a mirror (Naruto thought _why didn't I notice that before?_).

Naruto was dumbstruck. Why hadn't he noticed it before? Oh, wait, he HAD noticed it… "_red haze over his vision_", it wasn't really over his vision… it was on his head…

His hair was still blonde… somewhat. It was Blond at the roots anyway. His usually blonde locks darkened into a deep red at the tips (the _very_ tips, he noticed, darkened so much it looked like black), leaving about an inch and a half of blond at his scalp. While he was noticing everything else about his hair (gah! I'm going to start sounding like Sasuke soon), he confirmed something he'd noticed earlier: it had apparently grown about an inch or so, now touching down to his shoulders… and that meant that the majority of his hair was now red. _What the hell, now my hair looks sun burned!_

His bangs, now slightly in his eyes from their length, also brushed his cheeks. His whisker-like marks on his cheeks looked darker, even more like whiskers.

"whoa…" the small exclamation drew his attention to something else different, something that he _definitely_ didn't have before whatever happened did. He had _fangs_! Not just 'pointier than normal canines' but fangs! They didn't hang over his lip like some old vampire movie or anything, but they were still seriously long and sharp. Reaching up a hand to check them out (_please be fake please be fake pleeeeease be fake_), he accidentally cut his thumb and index finger on the tip… they were really real (_dammit!_).

He looked down his body to see if anything else was different, anything else was changed and unfamiliar. His body was maybe a little harder with muscle (now that he thought about it, he felt more refreshed and flexible than he ever did), a little buffer, and maybe he was a little taller (maybe taller than the teme! Hah! That's going to bug him) if the way his pj's were a little too short. Nothing too different. He brought his eyes back up to the mirror to check out his hair again when he caught sight of something that froze him… his eyes. (a/n: I was thinking of ending it there but… I figured no, it wouldn't be the best idea)

His eyes had to be the biggest change – well, aside from his hair – and he didn't know what to think about it. They were purple…PURPLE. Purple and slitted… like a cats eyes… but _purple_. Freaked out, Naruto grabbed the sides of the mirror (the hopefully defective mirror) and brought it as close to his face as he could, hoping, just hoping, that, no, his eyes weren't purple, he was simply seeing it wrong… his eyes were simply a.. _different_ shade – yeah that's right – a different _shade_ of blue that they usually were. But no, his eyes weren't fooling him… they were still purple… but wait, wasn't that blue around the iris? Or was he just seeing what he wanted to see?... no, it really was blue! Only a little bit of blue, but it was there! YAH! Not Entirely different! He quickly checked the rest of the iris for any more familiarity, but only noticed one other thing different, the edge of his iris was a ring of red, bleeding into the purple like the blue was. It was a… glowing kind of red, reminding him of cooling embers in a fire. (a/n: so basically, from outside in, it's red, fading into purple, fading into blue that's around his newly slit pupil)

Great. All in all, he was normal looking… until you looked at his head. Frig.

It wasn't as if he particularly disliked purple… it's just different… he had conflicting feelings about it being the colour his… blood-line… made his eyes.

On one hand, he had some sort of a bloodline. But it could also be some belated gene/DNA thing kicking in late.

On another hand, even if it was some belated gene/DNA thingy, purple eyes were distracting in a fight. But at the same time, how friggin scary is PURPLE? Nothing scary is purple, flowers are purple (not scary), eggplant is purple (only scary to little kids), Barney's purple, and while he's a dinosaur, he's about as scary as a butterfly (heck, some butterfly's are purple).

And on yet another hand (Naruto couldn't help but check to make sure he only had two), having a bloodline would probably make people in the village stop giving him such cold looks, wouldn't it? But then again, did he really want people giving him weird looks? Well, at this point, he really didn't have a choice in the matter (he could dye his hair back to blonde but the dyes they used stunk and he didn't want to have to repeatedly do it, and would dye really work?).

Naruto was yanked from his thoughts, literally, when Sakura barged into the room (Sasuke behind her) and flung her arms around his neck. Before he could really comprehend the fact that his crush was hugging him, she backed off and smacked him across the head.. well tried to. He managed to duck from her swing in time (she seemed slower somehow). He couldn't dodge her yelling though.

"Naruto you idiot! Why are you out of bed!? You should be resting!" she shoved back onto the bed. "You're risking your health just to look in the mirror? You just don't think abou--" Sakura suddenly cut herself off. She had seen his hair before (she had been the one to wash out the blood from his hair when Kakashi didn't), but… not his eyes… two thoughts occurred to her at that moment. _So pretty… _and _is that a bloodline trait…?_ And then she went off into a daze, thinking of all the things that it might mean, hardly noticing the heat flooding her stomach while she stared at his eyes.

Sasuke, wondering what got Sakura to shut up ( HE couldn't even get her to do that), moved around her, noticing the dobe's 'new' hair like he did any (not every) time he came into the room, and almost immediately noticing his eyes… they weren't his usual blue, but purple, but still managed to send the flutt—feathery not fluttery (Uchiha's don't flutter at/with/to anything)—feeling in his chest. Vaguely thinking _a bloodline maybe?_ (but not a bloodline better than his, for sure), he met the dobe's questioning gaze, immediately feeling the feathery feeling in his chest melt to form a familiar heat in his stomach. _What the--_

Kakashi smiled as he saw his pink- and raven-haired students blush, his slight suspicion after that poke confirmed, smothering a giggle as it tried to bubble past his lips. As two of his students questioned his third about what had happened to him, and his third question back just as much, he couldn't help but think

_Well, he isn't known as Konoha's most surprising Ninja for nothing… I wonder ow he's going to work it to his advantage… I could think of a few good uses, but not in combat…_

Zabuza and Haku made their way into the room after Naruto was filled in on what happened, and heard what he had to say about what happened (Kakashi was amused to see that apparently Naruto's eyes had the same affect on the two nin as on his students and himself, he was curious to see if it worked on everybody or just those who knew him for a while).

"you mean you don't remember practically blowing up?!" exclaimed Sakura in a shock filled voice.

"Nope… although from the way you described it, I can't say I'm sorry about it… last think I remember is Zabuza giving me a weird look when I said that they should come to Konoha with us… by the way, will you?"

Zabuza had nearly forgotten about it… he'd mentioned it to Haku, but aside from saying that it seemed ok, they hadn't really come to a conclusion. Although, seeing Naruto conscious and like this, he had a good idea about what he wanted to do. Meeting Haku's eyes, he saw the same answer in them. "sure Kid, we'll go to Konoha with you"

Naruto's eyes lit up, giving a fox like grin and shouted "yeah!"

Kakashi gave his version of a smile, and Sakura just shook her head with a smile (and a small blush) at her team-mates antics. Sasuke just rolled his eyes, huffing and turning away (to hide his tiny blush Kakahsi suspected).

Just then Inari barged into the room, apparently alerted to Naruto's consciousness by his yell, and launched himself at Naruto's form still sitting on the bed from when Sakura barged in. Naruto did a lot of boasting about how he was alright and how nothing could keep him down to Inari's anxious questions.

"are you sure? You were carried in all bloodied up and everything!"

"Psh, as if THAT could keep me down! I'm all right now, believe it! I'm serious! I feel better than I ever have before!"

As everyone relaxed, the subject of what to do about Naruto's Bloodline (he'd tried to tell them his hopeful theory about it being belated gene/DNA stuff, and they ignored him), and how to figure out what it did (Naruto wanted to know if he'd ever get his eyes back more, but they ignored him). They were planning to have him try softly hitting the spots to see what each colour did on one of them and then on each of them if the first experiment proved that it wasn't too damaging (Naruto tried to protest about doing it, but they ignored him) and Naruto couldn't help but notice the weird twinkle in Kakashi-sensei's eye when they said that. They all (Naruto's opinion wasn't heard) agreed that after they figured out what it did, that he should start integrating it into his fighting style (Naruto noticed the twinkle again, and Kakashi chuckled – _chuckled _– the nerve).

Eventually it was decided that Kakashi would be the first guinea pig, seeing as how he'd already been "hit" with it (Naruto pointed out that it was just a poke).

They all headed out that afternoon while Tazuna went to the bridge (Naruto sent clones), Kakashi choosing the clearing where he – for lack of a better word – changed (Sasuke and Sakura still say he pretty much exploded).

Naruto gaped when they reached their destination. It was a mess: tree branched scattered round the clearing, some of the greenery looking a little charred, and close to the left of the clearing was a giant crater, the earth seeming to have been blown away from the center, which was the most scorched spot, some parts even glassy from the heat (a/n for those who don't know… earth, when heated to extreme temperatires, makes glass). Sasuke and Sakura didn't help his shock by saying (both in their own ways) "told you so, you exploded, so there."

Kakashi moved to a less damaged area of the clearing, motioning Naruto to face him.

"Now then. You said earlier that you're seeing three main colours: red, black and white, right?"

"yeah, although now that I'm looking carefully, the white's more like a really really bright red, kind of like how the fires in a black smiths work area's fires will go almost white when they get really hot. But otherwise, yeah, it's pretty much white… so what? Do I just poke you in a red spot, see what that does, then do the same for white and black?"

"Pretty much… lets start. I'll tell you what each felt like after you've done each. For now, lets go in the order you just said. Lets start with red, with no chakra, then with chakra. Try out different ways to hit the spot, like harder, softer, whatever"

Naruto, feeling a little unsure of himself, poked him the same red splotch he had earlier, watching as a little blush make it's way above his mask. "are you okay sensei? You're getting a little red" Kakashi just nodded for him to continue. Naruto then tried hitting him hard, then soft on that same spot. He noticed that all the spots were getting a little brighter (well, the black darker), and next tried brushing it, both hard and soft. Kakashi continued to get redder, shifting a little (Naruto was thinking that apparently whatever his bloodline did, it was uncomfortable). He tried a number of things, including poking him repeatedly (he heard a sort of laughter from their audience), dragging his nails against the area, even attacking the area surrounding the red area. After he couldn't think of anything else to do, he told Kakashi that he was moving onto using his chakra. He tried everything he did prior at least twice, using less or more chakra (being sure to tell Kakashi) and trying to get his Chakra to soften or harden the hit. When he was done, Kakashi was panting slightly and he was very obviously red in the face.

"umm… are you okay sensei? D'you need a break or something…?"

Kakashi just waved him off, panting slightly and muttering a "later" when he was questioned what the number of touches were doing. Zabuza suddenly gave off a bark of laughter, giving Kakashi a knowing look, which he returned (he also waved off explaining why he was laughing, except saying that he thought he knew what his bloodline allowed him to do).

The entire process was repeated through the white spots, Naruto choosing a white area on the palm of Kakashi's hand. When asked the how many of each there were, he replied with "red is the most, and they're mainly small spots with some larger ones, then it's white, that seem to be in only specific area's" (Naruto blushingly admitted that they were mainly in the more private area's, with a few other area's that were scattered around). He continued, saying that there were less black spots than either red or white, and seemed to be in very specific area's. By the end of the white spots' session, everyone was sitting down, Kakashi's legs having let out beneath himself at one point, Kakashi was Panting heavier, and Zabuza kept chuckling any time Kakashi gave a loud response.

Naruto tried again to get Kakashi to take a break, but was waved off again. Haku, Sakura, and Sasuke were shocked. Haku was starting to suspect what the bloodline was doing, but couldn't get his mind around it. _How could that possibly be a – a – bloodline? I'm happy with mine, just fine thanks._

Sakura was amazed, Naruto, through his new bloodline, had brought their sensei to his knees! How'd he do that? And how did she not read up on anything like this bef_ore? _The only thing even remotely like this is the Byakugan, and NO Hyuuga was blonde. Things just didn't match up. _Maybe a new bloodline…? But how'd he do it? Maybe what he was saying earlier was true… maybe there once WAS a bloodline like this a couple hundred years ago… and Naruto picked it up in his DNA? Maybe it's just been dormant this whole time… but that still doesn't explain the lack of information on it, ALL bloodlines in the village are recorded…_

Sasuke was feeling a little torn. He was a little amazed at what Naruto's bloodline was capable of… but all the same, Sharingan was still better. Sure, Naruto had managed to bring Kakashi to his knees, but in a fight, it wasn't likely that the opponent was just going to stand there and let you poke them repeatedly. For some reason, he also felt a little jealous… no, not of Naruto, he just said Sharingan was better, but of Kakashi. He didn't look in pain at all (another reason why Sharingan was better), but he seemed to be _enjoying_ it! It was very obvious that whatever Naruto's bloodline let him do wasn't terribly dangerous, so why didn't Naruto try testing out on someone _else_? Since it didn't seem like it did anything bad, he'd be fine helping his team-mate test out his abilities. While they were at it, Naruto could also help him out with his own bloodline, maybe even letting him copy his clone jutsu in exchange for one of his fire-jutsu. It was an even trade. Help with your bloodline for help with mine. A jutsu of yours for one of mine. Yeah, and Kakashi could let someone _else_ know what the hell Naruto's bloodline did. _Hn, I bet I could help Naruto's bloodline training more than he could… _(Sasuke ignored the fact that he'd probably be learning about his own bloodline from Kakashi).

While all of these thoughts were darting around his friends heads, Naruto was trying to get Kakashi to take a break. "look, there's only so much poking a person can take, and you seem to be at your limit! Just take a break already!"

"*sigh* Naruto, you only have one other spot colour to go through. I'll take a break when we're done, and I'll know if you hold back, so let's continue already."

Naruto just shook his head in frustration, picking out a glowing black spot to be his next poking victim. After saying "fine, but I NEVER hold back, believe it!", Naruto attacked the spot with vigour, starting off as they had previously, without chakra.

Kakashi noticed the difference between this kind of spot as he had noticed the difference between the other two. Where the white had been an amplified version of the red, the black seemed to be a reverse reaction of the both of them. He felt the effects of the previous poking slipping away, even quicker when Naruto added Chakra. A particularly hard chakra filled touch felt like someone had flicked a switch to OFF inside of him, and he stopped Naruto suddenly, when the following poke made his insides lurch.

"Hah! I told you you needed a break! Bu nooo, you didn't listen! So next ti—"

"Naruto I just figured out what the black marks were… it's like your way to reverse what the other two do… oh, and the white spots are pretty much enhanced versions of the red spots"

"… well that's good to know… but what the hell does it do? How am I supposed to figure out a way to use it if I don't know what I'm aiming to do?"

Kakashi admitted privately that he had a point. Oh well, it'd still be fun to see his reaction.

Zabuza cut in before he could start to answer, "is it what I think it is?"

"yup"

"HAH! It's funny that an ability like that is given to HIM!"

Ignoring Naruto's indignant 'hey', Kakashi informed him "well, you'll soon find out that he's known to be the #1 surprising ninja at Konoha"

"yeah, I can believe that… but, heh, to have him of all people get THAT kind of ability… makes you wonder a lil…HAH!"

"will someone fill us in PLEASE?" asked an annoyed and confused Sakura.

"come ON! Tell what my bloodline does already!"

Kakashi smiled, "well…"

Naruto leaned forward, eyes focused solely on Kakashi.

"you know the spots you say you can see?..."

"yeah," Naruto was so focused on Kakashi he only vaguely felt Sasuke aiming his death-glare at Kakashi, he assumed it was because he was making them wait (Sasuke's thoughts: _I know Kakashi's going to say what his bloodline is, but does Naruto have to focus on him like that? Hn, Why didn't I volunteer to be the guinea pig?_).

"well, they…"

"yeah,"

"allow you to see…"

"yeah, yeah?"

"other peoples…"

"yeah? Their what? Other people's what?"

Kakashi paused for effect, Naruto, who had been hanging off his every word, waited, hardly daring to breath.

Kakashi grinned, enough that you could see it through his mask and finally said:

"you can see other people's EROGENOUS ZONES!"

~TBC~

wahaha! hopefully that ending got a few smiles/weird looks, but there! after an entire (or at least 3/4) chapter talking about the bloodline, here it is at the end!

And here's a preview of the next chapter;

"…what?" Naruto squeaked. His eyes had become increasingly large, blood leaving his face, leaving him pale against the reddened tips of his hair.

"yup! Their erogenous zones. Congratulations! The red and white spots turn people on and the black spots do the opposite!"

It only took Naruto a second before everything sunk in.

"WHAT! YOU MEAN THAT THE BIG THING THAT MY BLOODLINE CAN DO IS _TURN PEOPLE ON_?!"

"yup! And I'm curious how you're going use it in your fighting style, I admit… I can't really think of a combat use for this skill…"

"you- you mean that you can't even think of a way this could be useful in a fight?"

"..well, I guess you could use it to distract your opponents, hokage knows that's a distraction in a fight –"

"enough! I don't want to hear that!"

"regardless of what you want to hear, I expect you to start training with it, I'd be happy to help.. oh! And I expect you to be thinking about other uses for it, wouldn't want a talent like that be put to waste!" and with an entirely too cheerful look on his face, he waved and walked off, Zabuza and Haku following, Zabuza laughing to himself and Haku giving him a slightly worried look.

Sasuke and Sakura looked at Naruto, seeing he flopped himself down and was looking at his hands with a slightly horrified expression.

Sakura reached out hesitantly, resting her hand on his shoulder and giving him a little shake. "Naruto? Are you okay? Your Bloodline's not that bad – really, it isn't! well actually it is pretty bad in the sense that it's perverted but –"

She was cut off by Naruto mumbling something. He said it again, but louder when she said "what?"

"my hands…my hands, they – they…"

"dobe, what about your hands? Nothing wrong with them." Sasuke privately thought _they're very nice hands, I'd touch them in a minute… ooh, and if they touched me…_ but he was brought out of his thoughts when wide violet eyes looked up and met his own, flicking between his and Sakura's eyes.

"they – they, my hands – I just –"

"spit it out already dobe"

Naruto finally let it loose.

"I JUST GOT KAKASHI-SENSEI TURNED ON! How the hell am I supposed to react to the fact that he LET ME!"

Neither of his team-mates had an answer for him.

END PREVIEW

And that preview may be tweaked in the next chapter, but that's basically how it's going to be.

Also, I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but I got this idea off of a different story I read a while back… but now I can't find it… at ALL. So if you vaguely remember it, or know what story it is, please tell me, cause I want to read it again. oh, and if you are the author to that story, i'm sorry for kinda stealing your idea but since i couldn't read it i decided to write it.

Anyway, missing story's aside, I'm not as happy with this chapter as my last one but I'm hoping to do better in the next one… it should have some fighting in it so… yeah.

I'll try to update sometime next week, probably during the weekend though, instead of Thursdays.

Hope you enjoyed

please review! the other two made me so happy! :P wow that made me sound like a total dork, but whatever.

~Doodled93~ ^_^


	3. Chapter 3 see see no touchie!

Hey! I know i said a review in a week, but here's Chapter 3! Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

Jinchuriki94, please note that if i'm an son of a **... you are readin the story of a "son" of a **... also, I am not a boy, so blah to you

Alternative Angel, i realise thati'm not always the best at editing... so if you want to beta it, or have a beta to suggest, i'm all ears (or eyes maybe in this case, i dunno), and thank YOU for the second review from you! so happy! :D ^_^ XD XP :P ;) :) :} :3

Anyway, i'm looking for suggestions on what to CALL Naruto's Bloodline, so i'll probably put up a vote for the names if i get enough... or unless i find one that just screams NARUTO'S BLOODLINE NAME. Oh, and i'm not too fond of 'ero-gan'... i dunno why... it just doesn't seem like something Naruto would call it... hmm, well, ON WITH THE STORY!

CHAPTER 3

_This is unfair_, thought Naruto as he finished getting his bags packed for the trip the next day. Tazuna had finished the bridge, and they were going to leave tomorrow morning. This, at once, was a blessing and a curse for Naruto… he still hadn't thought of a way for his… unique bloodline to be used. After an entire week or so of fighting with Sakura, Kakashi, Zabuza, Haku, and the Teme (he seemed to have fought with him the most… Sas-Teme was probably trying to make it so he was immune to it or something), he had only found that it could be used for combat purposes in the most minimal ways. He could make a person's legs give out from under them (fancy way of saying he could make them weak in the knees… Kakashi called it 'Jelly Legs' or something like that), make them disoriented after a few minutes of poking, and was now very good at being able to give massive nosebleeds (even bigger than the sexy-jutsu! But this even worked on Sakura!) no matter where he poked a person (except for the black spots, it was just a matter of how much chakra in what way in the spot… white was easiest though).

Haku had helped him a lot with his aim (even though it seemed to have gotten better by itself… or maybe it was just from the bloodline thing?), and how to integrate his bloodline into his fighting style. It might've been because Haku's style depended mainly on being able to his an opponent in a certain spot to be able to do major damage with his senbon, but Naruto could now use it ("it" being his bloodline) easily in fighting… hell, he now didn't even need to see the spots, it was like he could feel them and know how much of an effect they would have, how much chakra would be needed to make the full effect, and how to mould his chakra (sharp, smooth, fuzzy, etc…) to get an even better effect.

This "feel" almost felt like sight, or sound… almost a mixture of the two, but it also seemed like it added something else… he didn't know what, but it certainly helped him become adapt at instant nosebleeds.

The good part about leaving the next day, was that (as Kakashi-sensei had told him) he wouldn't be able to work on his bloodline much (YAY), and Naruto saw that as being given a break… it would also mean that he'd be able to figure out how the hell he could REALLY use his bloodline as a ninja. Kakashi had told him about his worries about what The Council (and the village) would think of his new bloodline. Kakashi had taken him aside the day he had told him what he had found his bloodline to be, after dinner that is… Naruto had had a small freak out about his bloodline after he had been told what it did.

FLASH BACK

Naruto just stared at kakasi for a moment. "…what?" Naruto squeaked. His eyes had become increasingly large, blood leaving his face, leaving him pale against the reddened tips of his hair.

"Yup! Their erogenous zones. Congratulations! The red and white spots turn people on and the black spots do the opposite!"

It only took Naruto a second before everything sunk in.

"WHAT! YOU MEAN THAT THE BIG THING THAT MY BLOODLINE CAN DO IS _TURN PEOPLE ON_?!"

"Yup! And I'm curious how you're going use it in your fighting style, I admit… I can't really think of a combat use for this skill…"

"You- you mean that you can't even think of a way this could be useful in a fight?"

"...Well, I guess you could use it to distract your opponents, hokage knows that's a distraction in a fight –"

"Enough! I don't want to hear that!"

"Regardless of what you want to hear, I expect you to start training with it, I'd be happy to help.. oh! And I expect you to be thinking about other uses for it, wouldn't want a talent like that be put to waste!" and with an entirely too cheerful look on his face, he waved and walked off, Zabuza and Haku following, Zabuza laughing to himself and Haku giving him a slightly worried look.

Sasuke and Sakura looked at Naruto, seeing he flopped himself down and was looking at his hands with a slightly horrified expression.

Sakura reached out hesitantly, resting her hand on his shoulder and giving him a little shake. "Naruto? Are you okay? Your Bloodline's not that bad – really, it isn't! well actually it is pretty bad in the sense that it's perverted but –"

She was cut off by Naruto mumbling something. He said it again, but louder when she said "what?"

"My hands…my hands, they – they…"

"Dobe, what about your hands? Nothing wrong with them." Sasuke privately thought _they're very nice hands, I'd touch them in a minute… ooh, and if they touched me…_but he was brought out of his thoughts when wide violet eyes looked up and met his own, flicking between his and Sakura's eyes.

"They – they, my hands – I just –"

"Spit it out already dobe"

Naruto finally let it loose.

"I JUST GOT KAKASHI-SENSEI TURNED ON! How the hell am I supposed to react to the fact that he LET ME?!"

Neither of his team-mates had an answer for him.

**Small time skip – after dinner**

When Kakashi asked for a little talk with him, the first think Naruto did was hide his hands behind his back and say "I'm not touching you, you pervert!"

To his annoyance, Kakashi just smiled and motioned him to follow, walking out the door and heading to the edge of the forest.

Curious despite himself, Naruto followed, vowing to himself that he wouldn't go past the edge of the forest.

But his vow wasn't needed, because Kakashi just turned to him when he got to where he was at, making no move to head deeper into the forest.

"Naruto, you NEED to find a use for your bloodline… a really good one at that."

_Nooo, really, you don't think I know that_? Naruto couldn't help but think.

"I'm serious Naruto, I know you already know about the fox, so what do you think the Council and the village will think of your bloodline? They'll probably think the fox was the cause of it and demand for your execution"

Naruto was shocked into silence, his mind scrambling to find something to disprove what his teacher was saying. When he could find nothing, he couldn't help but ask "well, what makes you think it ISN'T the fox? I mean…"

"it might be the fox, but aside from your looks and this new ability of yours" Kakashi grinned here, "but even if it WAS the fox, there's no way for the fox to have made a bloodline out of nothing… if in fact it IS the fox's doing, he couldn't have made it out of nothing, it would have to have taken something from your genes and tweaked it to make it what it is… maybe your stamina, a family trait, anything. But that's nothing to worry about right now… we have about a week and a half or so left until the bridge is done. You have that time to get used to your bloodline and for you to figure out something that your bloodline can do to be properly useful in a ninja village. If it's something good, and it benefits the village, the Council won't be able to do anything to you. So FIND something, anything, more that your bloodline can do. Any way you look at it, it helps." 

And with that, he ruffled his hair and led him back to the house.

END FLASHBACK

So here he was, getting ready for bed now and trying not to think about the bad parts about leaving the next morning. Trying not to think about the stares from the villagers when he walks through the village or that he would probably end up being poked and prodded because he had a new 'bloodline' (as Kakashi had warned him) or that he only had what was left of today, and the 2 days of traveling to get to Konoha left to figure out how his bloodline could be useful to the village (other than in a whorehouse that is).

Quickly brushing his teeth and putting on his slightly too small PJ's (including his nightcap which was thankfully NOT too small), Naruto dodged around Sasuke as he headed to the bathroom himself and flopped into bed. _Hmm, Sasuke's been acting weirder then his usual emo self… wonder what that's about?_And Sasuke HAD been acting weird… aside from the increase in their sparring to help train with their bloodlines, he went out of his way to make him annoyed (more so than usual at least), AND the Teme couldn't seem to look at him in the eyes without going red (this was found out along with the fact that he kept on staring at him, the bastard)… maybe he was sick?

The thought that he couldn't look him in the eyes brought Naruto to two other thoughts… one, which Sakura couldn't seem to look him in the eye without going red either, and two, that his eyes had gone back to normal the day before. The second thought was a happier one than the first so Naruto focused on it at he tried to get to sleep, knowing that he'd eventually start thinking about the first otherwise.

Glancing in the mirror that was still in the room he and the Teme shared, he was cheered to see his bright blue eyes staring back. He had felt the tingly feeling in his eyes return right before he headed in for the night, and had glanced in the mirror like he was doing now. He hadn't, at first anyway, noticed anything different… but that didn't last long until a giant grin spread across his face (he even ignored the fangs peeking at him from his own mouth) hollering for his sensei and team-mates. When they got to the door, he opened his eyes as wide as he could and pointed to them, trying to get them to make a connection as fast as possible. He quickly told them about how his eyes had tingled, adding that it was the same feeling as the time on the bridge but stopping quicker. They hadn't been quite as excited as he was, but they were cheered at his enthusiasm, giving him smiles (a smirk in one case). Kakashi had made him try to get his eyes (should probably make a name for it huh?) to come back… Naruto could now turn his eyes on and off at will… never mind the fact that that was essentially what his eyes allowed him to do to other people…

That train of thought was at its end and Naruto couldn't think of anything else to add to it (except for maybe that he was kind of starting to sort of get used to/accept the fact that his bloodline was a perverted one), and Naruto resigned himself to the fact that he'd end up thinking about Sakura's behaviour towards him with a sigh.

Sasuke happened to have walked in at that time and gave him an inquiring look, to which Naruto just shook his head and stretched out on the bed, raising his shirt slightly to scratch his stomach and rolling his eyes as the Teme looked away, red in the face AGAIN! What was his problem? Hah! Probably jealous because of my awesome physique (Sasuke's mind: _Wah! Skin! I just want to lick that tattoo… *insert blush and Sasuke mentally hitting himself*_) (a/n: after a week of getting turned on by Naruto on purpose, you can't expect him not to be affected XD).

ANYWAY, Sakura had been treating him weirdly too. She also avoided his eyes, and went red in the face for reasons he couldn't think of, and she kept touching him for no reason (not that he was complaining of course). She touched his arm when she already had his attention, her foot and/or leg always touched his leg at least twice under the table during dinner… he had at first thought it was Sasuke kicking him under the table (he had mentioned that the Teme went out of his way to annoy him now), but when he had sent chakra to his foot and hit where he 'felt' there was a white spot, it was Sakura who had blushed, not Sasuke. So he didn't bother her about it any more, letting her do whatever she wanted to do with her feet and legs under the table, so long as she didn't hit anyplace… _delicate_under there (what he didn't know was that after that time, Sasuke had brushed against him, and, when he didn't get kicked for it, he had joined Sakura in her brushing against Naruto).

So all in all, Naruto was being treated differently by BOTH his team-mates… at least he didn't have to worry about that with Kakashi-sensei. He had made it his mission to make perverted comments about his bloodline and just teasing him overall, and he could deal with that. He could deal with teasing, it was out in the open and he knew from it what was on his teacher's perverted mind. He couldn't deal with his friends treating him oddly and being silent about it… sure they still talked to him and everything, but it was the subtle touches, the fact that they wouldn't meet his eye….. THAT was what bugged him.

Glancing at the clock, Naruto was startled to find that it was well into the night, a little after midnight. Listening intently (he noticed that his already sharp hearing was even better), he could hear the steady breathing of Sasuke, and Sakura in the next room over. He could also hear the soft snores of Kakashi and Zabuza, as well as the soft breathing of Inari's mom and Haku's half asleep breath (he knew Haku'd be awake in a second if anything was wrong) next to Zabuza. He searched for Inari's breathing, finding it a moment later, but not the way he thought he would. Inari was awake, and tip toeing his way towards Sasuke and his room. _I wonder what he wants…?_When he heard Inari get to his door, he closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, evening out his breath and relaxing his body. _If he wants me awake he'll knock, if he's trying to be sneaky he'll slip inside and do whatever it is he wants to do_. He heard his door open, and Inari crept into the room, holding his breath. Inari slowly made his way towards his bed, where he looked, to Inari at least, to be sleeping. When he got in front of him, Naruto focused on making his breath as even as he could, shift a little as if in sleep, lazily rub his stomach. Inari didn't do anything for a minute, just standing in front of him… Naruto wondered what he was doing here… he almost jumped when he felt a hand on his cheek, moving to trace where he knew his whisker marks were.

_What the hell is with all the touching? _Naruto wasn't quite used to touch… he had been pretty much on his own when he was little, and Naruto's experience with touch went from accidental to someone ruffling his hair, to the required contact to fight (punches, kicks, etc…). So the sudden amount of people touching him 'just because' was making him a little uncomfortable (more like freaked OUT!). Inari's hand had moved from his cheek to tracing his features, and was making its way to his hair. Naruto could feel heat trying to creep up his cheeks (_why_, he'd never know) and fought it down. Inari was running his fingers through his hair now, shifting closer to the bed now, and Naruto, slightly freaked out, shifted so he was more on his stomach. Inari paused, his hand still buried in his blond-to-red locks, and when Naruto didn't make any more movements, continued with his petting (there was no other way for Naruto to describe it), moving so both of his hands were buried in his hair, stroking through his locks. Naruto was starting to feel REALLY freaked out at this (_what the hell is he doing? Why the hell is he doing this? What the hell!!!!_), and when Inari gave a slight pull on his hair, Naruto pretended to start waking up, shifting a little and scrunching up his eyes. Inari grabbed his hands back with a gasp, and froze.

aruto rubbed at his eyes a little as he rolled onto his back, adding to his little act, giving Inari some time to think up an excuse for being there (he was freaked out by what he did, but he didn't dislike the little guy). When he propped himself on an elbow and 'sleepily' looked at Inari, giving a groggy "what?" he mentally applauded his performance. When Inari started stuttering something, Naruto focused on him (but remembered to blink sleepily a few times) and saw he was in his own PJ's, looking down with a blush on his face (Naruto admitted that if he had been doing what Inari had been doing, he'd blush too), fiddling with his hands. Inari seemed to have come up with an excuse by the look on his face.

"I-I had a, eh, a nightmare…. And I was wondering… umm"

Naruto thought that this way of speaking reminded him of someone from his class… but who was it again…? O well, unimportant right now. Inari seemed to be having an issue with getting out what he was 'wondering', so Naruto gave an encouraging "yes…?" but Inari just flushed a deeper shade of red. _At lease I thought it was encouraging_… before Naruto could think of anything else to say, Inari seemed to calm himself down somewhat.

Still looking down and looking embarrassed, Inari muttered "well, I was hoping I could…. Maybe spend the night…?"

Naruto stared for a minute, uncomprehending. _He wants to… sleep with me…?_

Inari embarrassed by Naruto's blank stare, quickly looked away in embarrassment and started slowly shuffling away, muttering a "well if you don't want to…"

Naruto was a little alarmed. He didn't want Inari to think he was snubbing him…. he just… oh shoot! He's leaving! Frig, what to do? Don't want to hurt his feelings so…

"Sure" the small word was out before he could think about it.

Inari stopped. "…"

Naruto froze. "…"

Inari started turning back around.

Naruto was still frozen, his half smile in place, still propped up by his elbow.

Inari had a small smile on his face as he made his way back to Naruto, and Naruto was so relieved that he kept Inari from feeling bad, he made space on the bed and pulled back the covers for Inari without a thought. As Inaru settled by his side and said goodnight, he replied with his own and settled onto his back to try to get some sleep, closing his eyes. It was only then that he remembered the strange behaviour from Inari. _Shoot! The nightmare was just an excuse! Why the hell'd I say yes? He probably would have been relieved that he got away! ... But… he could have gotten away with only the bit about the nightmare… why ask to stay the night then?_

Now that he thought about it, he remembered that Inari had also been acting strange… well, he didn't know what his usual habits were, but Inari seemed to want to stick to him like glue. When it was his turn to guard Tazuna (couldn't see what from though), Inari went with him. When he was in the house, Inari stayed with him. Inari seemed to want to be wherever Naruto was, blushing at praise, and when Naruto grinned at him or even laughed with him. _Great, more weird behaviour… at least he doesn't blush as much as the Teme and Sakura…_

Naruto noticed Inari was still awake, pretending to be asleep, but still awake. Figuring that he was just uncomfortable with the fact he was sleeping next to him, Naruto pretended to fall asleep to make him more comfortable. Well, he did seem to relax… he relaxed enough to move himself under his arm, set his head on his shoulder, and drape his arm across his front.

Naruto sighed a little when he felt him fall asleep, and resigned himself to Inari's weird behaviour. Peeking at Inari, he noticed he even had a blush on his face in his sleep, snuggling himself more into Naruto's chest. Naruto gave a slightly bigger sigh, and prepared to go to sleep, drifting off into his subconscious, dreaming of when he wasn't surrounded by people acting weird, when he was just Naruto Uzumaki, when he didn't have a bloodline and when he was 'normal'.

As he slipped into his dreams, he didn't notice the glittering red Sharingan eyes swirling at him and Inari, nor the Patented Uchiha Death Glare aimed at Inari. He didn't even hear his room- and team-mate mutter "Stupid kid… Stupid dobe…"

……………

"Teme"

Okay, so maybe he did hear the last part, or it could just be he has an instinct to respond to that insult.

TBC

OKAY! so that's done.

Remember: **I NEED SUGGESTIONS ABOUT NARUTO'S BLOODLINE'S NAME!!!**

So yeah, hope you liked, if you do, review, even if you kinda liked it, review! PLEASE!

~Doodled93~


	4. Chapter 4 A Useful Use

Hey, sorry for the late update! This chapter's a long one, so hopefully that makes up for it! Possibilities for Naruto's bloodline's name are at the bottom, please vote for your favourite(s)! Oh, and this is beta'd by the wonderful Alternative Angel!!!! THANK YOUUUUU!

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 4 – A Useful Use

_Ugh, it's time to get up… Frig, I only have until we get to Konoha to figure out a useful.. well, USE for my bloodline AND figure out a name… Whatever, figure out a name later, when I know I'll be alive to tell it. So, what's important in the village? Strength, speed… no, wait, those are important mainly in a ninja… but strength is important in the village… but there's a lot of different of strengths in a village… hmm… Maybe I should get up now. Probably help me think with a full stomach… but, I'm so comfortable… even if my blanket's a little heavy and keeps moving around… so comfy... I'm so tired, wonder why…_

…

… _- Wait, moving?_

Naruto immediately went rigid. Now that he was paying attention, his "blanket" definitely had a distinctly human feel and shape to it… a small one at that… OH! Inari! Oh yeah, he came into the room, acted weird, made up an excuse for his weird actions and acted weirder by asking to stay the night with him… _A__nd I said yes? Fuck! What to do now?_

He tried moving Inari to the side to get up, and he did, just to find that Inari had a death grip on his shirt. He tried prying his fingers from his shirt, but Inari just scrunched up his face and shifted his grip… to clutching arms around his stomach. _Frig, well this sucks. Maybe I should just wake him up?_ Naruto checked the time… 5:30am, about a half-hour until everybody would wake up or be woken up (At 6, Inari's mom usually got up), have breakfast and then hit the road… As if Inari'd get up at this time of morning for any reason, short of a hurricane.

So that just left his team-mates (both old and new). No way was he asking Kakashi or Zabuza (Kakashi would tease him about it relentlessly and Zabuza seemed to be his partner-in-crime, in that aspect), Sakura would kill him if he got her up early… The only options were Sasu-Teme and Haku. The Teme got up about 15 minutes or so before he was supposed to (Crazy bastard… Maybe it's lack of sleep that makes him such a bastard… Nah, he doesn't need a reason to be an ass, it's in his frigid-emo programming), and Haku &Zabuza kept switching night watch (Maybe it's a force of habit…? They were on the run for who knows how many years… Wait, they're still on the run now, aren't they? At least 'til we get to Konoha.), so Haku's probably up right now. Of the two, he'd prefer Haku to Sasuke, seeing as how the Teme would probably turn this into some messed up case about how he couldn't even defeat a kid or something. As he listened for where Haku was, however, he found he was on the roof on the opposite side of the house, and if he called out to him (Loud enough for him to hear him, anyway), he'd probably end up waking EVERYONE up.

That meant Sakura (who'd kill him while yelling about beauty-sleep or something), Kakashi and Zabuza (Wow, they'd get _such_ a laugh), and Inari's mom and Tazuna (Naruto figured they'd be torn between laughter and concern as to why their son/grandson was in bed with a ninja). So he was stuck with trying to get the emo across the room to help him get untangled. Checking the clock again, he noticed he'd wasted around 10 minutes over his thoughts, so the Teme would be up and prowling around in about 5 minutes. _Great._

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AN HOUR-AND-A-HALF LATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Naruto walked at the back of the group, rubbing at the quickly fading bruises over his right eye, his left cheek, and right along his jaw (courtesy of Sakura-Chan), wondering what the hell he'd done to deserve an hour of death glares (both Sasuke AND Sakura, ouch and ouch again) as well as the severe pounding. Pounding was the best word for both the beating and the injuries. He had had a couple other bruises on his body that he felt had healed (_Thank __you_ natural super healing + new bloodline healing abilities), but the two on his face were still throbbing slightly, although the swelling had gone down within the first few minutes. The one on his cheek felt like it was healing a little quicker than his eye, so he'd still have the shiner when they passed through the small village on the way back to Konoha. Frig, he was going to look so weak!

**~ Not weak, s**_**exy.**_

"What?!" Naruto accidentally said aloud, earning a few weird looks from his companions ahead of him.

**~A black eye is sexy, no matter to what gender. It attract females because it makes you look tough, and guys are interested because it's the mark of a fight. So long as you don't say it's from the pink-haired girl, everyone, due to your injuries, will just think you're tough. It's perfect!~**

_Why the hell would I be interested in attracting guys?! And what would it matter if any of the girls there think I'm attractive? I'm only going to MAYBE see them if/when I'm going to a mission! ALSO, a lot of black eyes are really ugly, and I have BLUE eyes._ Naruto avoided thinking about how he ALSO had purpley-blueish-reddish eyes. He also avoided thinking about how he was just thinking about what his eye colour was to annoy the voice.

**~I know you know what I'm talking about.~**

_Darn._

**~Well, what if _I'm_**** interested in their attention? I like guys- ~**

_Aha! So the weird girl/guy voice is a girl… Now that I think on it, the voice was more feminine that time!_

**~ -and I'm also interested in girls. So, regardless of whether or not you're going to see them again soon, that black eye is staying, and it'll stay the right colour to be sexy. Don't worry, it'll be healed before we get to Konoha.~**

_Damn, that voice was definitely more masculine… Maybe I have more than one voice in my head?_

**~No. You only have li'l ol' me stuck in this head of yours… At least there's plenty of room.~**

Naruto could distinctly hear the grin in the voice, and decided not to rise to the bait.

**~Awe, good boy! You're learning restraint! Here's a cookie!~**

An image of a cookie popped into his head before he could stop it. _Frig!_ He couldn't stop himself from thinking _Stupid fuzzball_.

There was a moment of silence. Naruto thought that was a little odd. He would've expected at least a little laugh from the voice (Never mind the fact that he was expecting things from the voice in his head, and pay no attention to the fact that he was having a conversation with it). It took him a minute to realise that the voice was shocked.

**~…What did you call me…?~**

_...Fuzzball…?_ (Naruto's inner thoughts: _Is fuzzball some major insult to the voices in peoples heads…?_)

**~…Why?~**

_Um… because I don't have anything else to call you… and you sound fuzzy, like 'if-a-cat-could-talk' kind of fuzzy._ He felt the sensation like the voice sighed… in relief? Or was it annoyance?

**~Well, that—HEY! I do NOT sound like a cat!~**

_Well, that's good. I haven't had too many experiences with cats that were good. Damn, they have sharp claws._ _Stupid cat._

**~I most certainly am NOT a cat! You brat, think of something a little more canine—and before you get it into your head that I'm one of those stupid mutts, I'm NOT a dog, either!~**

_So what—you're an animal? Jeeze! I have a talking animal in my head! So what are you, if you're an animal?… A hyena?_

**~NO! I'm not a hyena!~**

_Soooo, are you a…. Oh! What about a wolf?_

**~Didn't I JUST say I'm not a dog!~**

_Well, I figure that wolves wouldn't want to be mistaken for dogs. You know, the whole "wild __wolf vs. mild mutt" kind of thing... And you aren't saying no!_

**~I AM NOT A WOLF EITHER! Jeeze, you brat, can't you think of another animal? Here's a hint: I'm much more dignified than those mongrels that you mentioned earlier. Think refined, sleek, elegant, intellectual. That kind of thing. But I am NOT a stinking dog, nor a stupid cat, or a retarded hyena, or a friggin' WOLF!~**

Well great, now he had to figure out what the voice in his head was, as well as some use for the bloodline. _Aw, fuck!_ Naruto checked the time: 11:45! Four-and-a-half hours arguing with a voice in his head! What the hell were they talking about before they got into the whole 'What am I? I'm not…' thing? Naruto scrunched up his face and was rewarded by a slight throbbing around his right eye, reminding him of his morning "adventure". Deciding not to think about what the voice in his head was (Aside from pretty good proof that he was insane… but wait, don't insane people not know they're insane? So, did that make him not insane? But just that thought alone made him insane, didn't it?… Whatever.), nor about what his bloodline could be used for (How the hell could that be useful?! The answer would probably be obvious as soon as he figured it out…It's like asking an only child what boobs were for! They wouldn't know without any sibling and would have probably not have gotten "The Talk"(a/n: Think about it, it makes sense… IT DOES! Sorry for bad examples… I'm just tired… but it does make sense!)) to avoid having a panic attack on the road.

Something occurred to Naruto just then.

_Did I ever actually mention the voice to everyone else? Should I…? Nah, I don't need them worrying about my mental health right now. I'll mention it later…_

Naruto sighed to himself as he remembered his embarrassment this morning. He'd managed to wake the Teme up (Naruto conveniently forgot about shadow clones and threw a chair at him instead.), and got him to help him out (Of course Sasu-Teme had to put his two-cents in: "What? Couldn't you handle a little kid yourself? Hn, Dobe..." _Bastard._). They almost had Inari off, with Sasuke giving Inari his death glare (Naruto thought it seemed particularly wrathful, but it was probably because Naruto woke him up a few minutes earlier than he would have, because of him), when Inari bit him. No, not Naruto, _Sasuke_.

He bit Sasuke.

HARD. (a/n: Picture that in your head X3 hehehe)

Naruto, looking back on it, thought that it probably wasn't the best idea (for keeping his health and/or life) to start laughing at Sasuke as he started quietly swearing. He thought that maybe Sakura wouldn't have woken up if he hadn't started laughing, either. But, oh no, it wasn't his laughing that woke her up (he had enough sense not to laugh loudly). It was all Sasuke. Sasuke pried his hand from Inari's mouth (Naruto: Hahaha! Hehehe! Hohoho!), redirected his death-glare to Naruto (Naruto: Hehehe…haha…hah….oh shoot!), and tackled him. That ended up with them rolling off the opposite side of the bed, Naruto losing his shirt to Inari (He'd moved his grip back to the front of his t-shirt at some point after the bite, and had clung on, despite Naruto's rolling.), and continuing rolling, with each trying to get the upper hand. They stopped rolling but still grappled with each other, trying to get the upper hand. Sasuke managed to flip Naruto onto his stomach and twisted his arm behind his back.

_The bastard even had the nerve to lean over him and whisper "Had enough, Do-be?" in my ear!_

Naruto remembered everything as it happened, reliving it.

Naruto had shifted himself to his knees (so he could get them under himself) and pushed himself to all fours, wrenching his arm from behind his back. Sasuke had to put his hand down to keep balance, and it landed on Naruto's newly freed hand. Naruto pushed himself forward and jerked himself backwards to try to throw him off his back, or at least overbalance him in some way. He hit his stomach, apparently harder than he thought he'd pushed back because Sasuke grunted and curled forwards slightly (a/n: I'm saying this now, Naruto didn't hit Sasuke's _stomach_). Naruto shoved sideways, toppling Sasuke to his side, quickly straddling his thighs and grabbing his hands (Naruto would have punched him but he still had some wounds on his chest and arms, and he didn't want Sakura hitting him for bruising his pretty-boy face… also, he wasn't _that_ mean).

Naruto winced as he remembered how he heard the door slam open, just as Sasuke pushed his knees up. He shivered when he remembered the sight of pink hair and wide aqua-green eyes out of the corner of his eye as he toppled forward, hands trying to move forward to steady himself (stupid Sasu-Teme had his hands from when Naruto had HIS hands). And Naruto went red when he remembered how his body had toppled onto Sasuke's. (Naruto denies any accusation to having squeaked as he fell. He. Did. Not. Squeak. He didn't. Nope, no squeaking at all.)

Stomach to stomach.

Chest to chest.

Forehead to forehead.

And mouth to mouth.

Naruto could imagine how it would look to the momentarily speechless Sakura standing in the doorway, having gotten woken up by the sounds of fighting in their room, only to open the door to see one of her team-mates pinned by the other, and one falling towards the other, ending in a lip lock. He could understand that she could and _would_ be angry. He hoped that Sasuke could understand his own situation, and just LET HIM GO so Naruto could run far, FAR away from the probably (most likely) seething Sakura. RIGHT NOW!

But _no_, Sasuke just sat there (lay there, whatever.), maybe in shock (his eyes _were_ a little wider than usual), maybe waiting for his revenge (He knew Naruto wouldn't hit Sakura back.), and maybe that bite got infected somehow and made him brain-dead... In some way... Whatever. Either way, he just sat there, not letting go of a struggling Naruto's hands as he frantically tried to pry himself from him (a/n: He had landed in such a way that he couldn't push himself up without his hands.), ignoring the fact that Naruto's eyes were darting fearfully back and forth from Sasuke to Sakura, begging Sasuke with his eyes to let him GO!

Naruto pushed down with his hips, earning a grunt from Sasuke, and pushed his chest up, hoping his head (and mouth) would follow (PLEASE!). Well, it did follow, but so did Sasuke, holding his (both of their) hands down to push himself up, and, for some reason, keeping their lips locked (Did he really go braindead!?!). Sasuke was looking at him calmly (Bastard!!! Asshole!!! Leggo, you overly calm maniac!), and Naruto couldn't help but call him as he saw him.

"Bastard..."

Only to regret it a moment later when he saw Sasuke's eyes widen a little, and widened his own eyes as he registered the fact that that just rubbed their lips together _(_Naruto's mind_: Oh crap! Oh crap!! Oh crap!!!!)._

It got a little fuzzy after that. He could remember Sakura screeching at him, Inari waking up and yelling at her for yelling (G'job kid, THAT makes sense.), Sakura launching herself at Naruto and beating the hell out of him. Oh, and everyone else in the house waking up to see what the hell the racket was.

That all led to him being glared and laughed at, all during breakfast and for the next hour or so of the walk.

_Hmm, maybe there's a little Uchiha in Sakura… I thought that only __**they**__ could do __the Uchiha death glare._

Naruto was pulled from his thoughts when Kakashi said, "Why don't we stop for lunch?"

**~Don't do it.~**

_I'm not going to do anything._

**~Don't say it then.~**

_What? C'mon! Sakura probably hates me now, thanks to him. Besides, only he and I saw it. I'm saying it._

**~But YOU told everyone what happened since he was being all broody and quiet... *sigh* Just don't yell it out.~**

_Pfft, fine, whatever…_

As everyone starting taking out their lunch (courtesy of Inari's mom), Naruto said (just loud enough for everyone to hear if they were listening), "Hmm, I thought Sasuke already had a bite…"

Sasuke froze (and clenched his hands, one of which had a red mark on it), the two jounin's eyes widened, Sakura gaped, and Naruto couldn't help the grin creeping it's way across his face, regardless of the slight twinge it brought him.

"Dobe…"

Naruto's grin got a little wider.

"Yeees?"

"What did you just say?"

"Oh, nothin', just makin' an observation."

Sasuke's eye twitched. (a/n: Eye-twitch of doom!)

Naruto got ready for what he knew was going to happen.

Kakashi and Zabuza started laughing.

And Sasuke pounced.

Naruto started running like hell, the sound of laughter and Kakashi calling out not to go too far following him (and of course the sound of Sasuke following).

______________________________________________________________________

,~',~',~'Time skip,~',~',~'

They were about a half-hour or so from the small village that they had to pass through to get to Konoha. They were going to stay the night at a small inn and, Naruto figured, that they'd get to Konoha at around noon the next day.

Naruto rubbed at the newly darkened bruise along his jaw. Sasuke had managed to get a hit on him. Not a particularly hard hit, but since he managed to hit his bruise, it hurt a helluva lot more than it would have.

_Hmm… Wow, I feel like I forgot to do something… something reeeeally __important… I wonder what it could be…_

_Hmm…_

…

_AH shoot! I haven't thought about a use for my bloodline at ALL!!! Frig! And I only have until tomorrow afternoon! Shoot! What was I thinking this morning!? Umm, umm, strength! Yeah! Strength is important in a village! And I thought 'There's different kinds of strength in the village!' Okay, a start! Now, where to go from there? What kinds of strength are there?_

Naruto vaguely realized that they had reached the entrance to the village, but he was too immersed in his thoughts to pay that much attention to it.

_Okay, there's strength in numbers in a village… like how if there's a bigger village, there's more ninja's and fighters… but I'm already a ninja so that can't be too important when using my bloodline… If I wasn't a ninja, then I guess I could've said that I could become one… but I AM a ninja sooo... gotta find something else… Wait, what's this weird feeling?_

Naruto looked around and noticed that, as they walked past houses and shops, their group was receiving weird looks. Naruto tried looking at the people in their group as if he was an outsider. Ah, Naruto spotted the problem: they had two people with masks on, one of them with a giant sword strapped to his back. They also had one guy who looked prettier than a girl (or a girl who looked like a hot guy), a girl with pink hair, and a brooding emo-guy (Naruto assumed that the girls here were as deluded as the ones in Konoha and thought that the Teme was good looking, pfft). No wonder they were gaining weird looks. Oh yeah, they also had him, a guy with red-tipped hair… _B__ut that's not too odd, is it?_

Naruto looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Kakashi.

"We're going to the inn to put our things away and then go grab dinner afterwards. After that, you can do whatever you want, but remember that we're leaving for Konoha in the morning. I figured that you weren't listening earlier when we were talking."

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, why are we staying the night here? We'd be able to reach Konoha by morning if we continued on."

"Yes, but we aren't in a rush. Also, I figured that you'd appreciate getting more time to think of a use for your bloodline in the village… You have been thinking on it, haven't you?"

"Ahh, s-sure I have! I just haven't thought of anything yet… ahaha…" _Ah shoot, I can't tell him that I haven't thought about it, like, at ALL today… Dammit, I have to figure out something soon!_

"Aah, well, so long as you're thinking on it… I've been able to think of a few things you could do with your ability…."

Naruto brightened. _YES! I'm saved!_

"…but not anything you could do for the village…"

Naruto sweatdropped. _Of course, the pervert would think of things like that…_

"But have you thought of anything to try to expand on? Someplace to start?"

"Umm, well, I figure that it has to at least help out a strength in the village, if not make a strength of it's own…"

"Hmm, so you're trying to find something it could help out with? What about as a ninja?"

"Well, you said it yourself, it's not too great in fighting, like the Sharingan or Haku's bloodline, and it's not good at all in scouting like that Byagan or whatever it's called that Hinata's family has… So if there's a way for it to be used to compliment some strength or another in the village, then the council shouldn't be able to say anything, right?"

"You mean the Byakugan, and you have the right thought about it…" Kakashi was silent for a moment, "Try thinking about other ways that those other bloodlines can be used, and you might be able to figure something out. Oh, we're here."

As Kakashi went to get them rooms, Naruto tried thinking of other things that Byakugan and Sharingan could be used for… _Well, the Sharingan can copy movements and jutsu, so I guess that's another use for it… but what would that be classified as? And I guess if someone who has Byakugan can read lips, they could probably spy, as well as read open documents from afar, regardless of lip-reading abilities… hmm… Information? I guess gathering jutsu could be considered gathering information too… Is there any way for my bloodline to be used for gathering information? It couldn't be used in finding jutsu (Unless someone has a habit of explaining jutsu when they're horny…*insert sweatdrop*), and it's generally close range, so it couldn't be used like the Byakugan…hmm… Maybe I should write all the different types of strengths down, then figure out if it works._

Kakashi had gotten them their rooms, so Naruto headed up with everyone and put his stuff down, rummaging through his bag for a pad of paper and a pen (a/n: No idea if they have either of those in the anime/manga, or if they just have scrolls and ink so please, just deal with my ignorance.), and brought them with him when they went out for dinner.

Naruto was disappointed that they weren't going out for ramen (Naruto's thoughts: _Wah! Haven't had it in foreverrrr! I'm going through withdrawls!_), but grilled pork was good too. If his friends and team-mates noticed that he was unusually quiet, they didn't bother him about it, aside from giving him worried looks (Sakura and Sasuke had stopped their glaring when they noticed that he hadn't said practically anything for the whole trip.). Naruto focused on thinking of as many different types of strength as possible, regardless of whether or not he thought that he couldn't use it for his bloodline, he would think of that later.

_Strength in the village is… strength in numbers/size, strength like intelligence, strength in fighting, umm, strength in the community, strength in economy, strength in…well, medicine and healing is a strength... Hmm, what else? Strength in military/defence… strength in morality, maybe religion… Um... technological strength is important too… You'd think that there would be more kinds of strengths in a village._

Naruto finished and, after a quick 'bye' and an explanation as to where he was going ("I'm looking around the village"), he set out, paper and pen in hand. _I should probably write down what I have so far… maybe leave space for notes or something… Wow, Sakura would be proud! Lets see…_

STRENGTHS:

Military/Defence (against other nations)

Fighting (Ability)

Numbers/Size

Economy

Community

Morality

Religious

Medicine/Healing

Organisational/Government

Technological

Intelligence

_Well, that looks about right… Okay, first thing: Military/Defence. Well, I can make over a hundred shadow clones, and that can help in military and defence, but that doesn't have anything to do with my bloodline… but maybe it'll help my case if they know that I can do that… but then again, it's a forbidden jutsu,and I'm not supposed to know about it… Eh…. I'm just not going to mention it…_

_Umm, next on the list… Fighting (Ability)… My bloodline only helps out my fighting minimally. I can sense where everyone is because I can feel where their spots are, and I guess I could bring an opponent down with a mega nose-bleed… but that's not a good argument (Not to mention the fact that the council's made up of old farts, and they probably wouldn't think of it as useful)._

_Next is Numbers/Size. That brings me back to shadow clones._

_Economy is after that. Don't think that this "special" ability of mine is going to affect the economy. At all. Unless I get caged and they put me on public display ("Come one, come all! Come see the boy with the useless bloodline ability!"). But let's stay on happy thoughts._

_Hmm, Community strength. That's keeping the village united… and most of the village is united in hating me… I doubt that me getting a bloodline will change their minds (especially when they hear what it is…). It's also not going to unite the village more, that's for sure…_

_Morality… Well, again, most of the villagers hate me… most of them for something that's obviously out of my control. Again, I doubt me having a bloodline will change that OR raise their morality…_

_Hah! Religion! There are three ways this situation will go… 1) They will ignore me. 2) My bloodline will start a new religion, with waves upon waves of worshippers coming to see me about pregnancy and whatever (Ahahahaha! As if that'll ever happen!). And 3) Preachers and priests will rally their followers against me, for I am so unholy and evil and blah, blah, blah… I'm hoping for option 1._

_Next up, Medicine/Healing. I dunno if there's any way my bloodline could be used for medical reasons. Maybe to get someone's heart pumping? Maybe if someone has a sexual dysfunction (Naruto shuddered at the thought of having to fix that)? Oh well, I'll ask Kakashi-sensei about it later. Better find something else even IF getting horny could cure a disease or something…_

_And he couldn't help with Organization/Government at all. The Council is part of the government, and unless he could find a use for his bloodline in the village, they'd have him killed (Now that Naruto thought about it, even if he did find something, they'd still try to find a way to get him killed if he was in the government.). Even without that thought, the only way for him to be a help with the government was if they decided to sell him or something for an alliance. And while yes, I'm above average when it comes to organizing things, well, except remembering to do laundry at home (Doubt they'd trust me with their laundry in any case, and laundry is not important now! Well, except that I have to get more clothes...), I doubt that they'd trust me to organize anything useful. And there's no way for my bloodline to be used in either Government or Organization._

_Okay, and Technological strength is up next… well, I don't think that my bloodline has made me any more technologically savvy. Gotta check that out later… maybe buy a new computer and try setting it up. If I can, then yes, I am more technologically advanced, if I can't or can only do it part way without help, then no, I'm normal._

_And, last on my list, Intelligence… but wait, aren't there also a lot of different types of intelligence? Like book-smart like Sakura, or being able to memorize easily (Stupid Teme and his photographic memory). Heck, there's even smarts for the arts, or being smart enough for leadership (large or small), and then there's trades smarts for jobs and money management… Maybe this strength needs a list of it's own… _Naruto turned the page.

Intelligence:

Book (Math, Science, Lit., etc.)

Memorization

Leader

Trade (Profession/Buy/Sell)

Art

Naruto thought a moment… _T__here__ are more ninja smarts, aren't there?_

Spying

Gathering information from enemy (Hostage/Torture/Interrogation)

Naruto looked over what he had so far, checking the notes he added, and making sure he hadn't missed anything. (A/n: X=not happening, O=can use/he circled it for yes, ?=look more into it/need more information)

STRENGTHS:

Military/Defence (Ninja) – X – Can't use shadow clones (isn't bloodline)

Fighting (Ability) – X – Council won't find it useful enough (distraction, disoriented, nose bleeds, "feel" where opponent is from spots)

Numbers/Size – X – Can't use clones (isn't bloodline)

Economy – X – Unless caged and put on display, no.

Community – X – Villagers dislike me, no use even with bloodline

Morality – X – Villagers dislike me, no use even with bloodline

Religious – X – 1)Leave me alone, 2) Worship me (As if.) 3) Condemn/kill me

Medicine/Healing - ? – See Kakashi about possibility of "ability" being used medically

Organisational/Government – XXXXX – Council will say no & no use in organization or gov't anyway

Technological – X? – Don't think so but buy new computer and see

Intelligence – ? – See next page

- - - - - - - - Next Page - - - - - - - -

Intelligence:

Book (Math, Science, Lit., etc.)

Memorization

Leader

Trade (Profession/Buy/Sell)

Art

Spying

Information from enemy (Hostage/Torture/Interrogation)

Naruto looked up from his list when he felt a twinge like someone was watching him. Looking around, he saw that he was earning quite a few strange looks. _Is it that odd to see someone writing in a notebook? _Naruto looked down at himself, noticing his too short orange pants (He'd rolled them up to be shorts, though.), and his too tight black t-shirt (His orange jacket was too small in the shoulders from his growth and ripped down the back when he tried to put it on.). He didn't see anything odd… Is it his t-shirt? It's a little small, but he'd seen some people wear shirts like this…

_Maybe something on my face…?_

Feeling around his mouth, and checking in the reflection in a window, Naruto couldn't see or feel anything on his face, and, after running his tongue over his teeth, he didn't have anything stuck in his teeth, either (Not that he'd been talking, or that even if he had been, they wouldn't have been able to see it at this distance.). When he pushed back a lock of hair that had flopped onto his face (_H__mm__, I need to get a haircut too._), he heard a group of girls sigh, and echoes of it from other people on the street, guys and girls alike. Was it his hair then? True, it's unusual, but he'd seen wackier hair than his, and he thought that (after a week of having to see it and get used to it) it looked pretty cool. _I mean, who else has red-tipped hair? It's... oh, what's the word Sakura used? Umm, erotic – NO! Exotic, that's it! Exotic…hmm… Maybe I should ask someone?_

Walking towards the original group that had sighed, he saw that there were 5 girls. Three of them looked about his age, one seemed younger, and the last one had to be at least 2 years older. They started whispering furiously when they saw him walking over (Naruto's ears could pick up a lot of "Omigod!"'s and "he's coming over!"… Did he look scary?) but quieted down as soon as he was in normal hearing range, save for a few giggles (Why were they giggling? What was so funny?).

"Umm, hi, I was just wondering…"

He was interrupted by them bursting out in giggles. One of the girls, who looked his age, spoke up. "If we wanted to get a few drinks? Sure."

"Umm, actually, I was just wondering why everyone's staring. Is there something wrong with my face or something…?"

The one who spoke up flushed red (_What'd I do to make her angry?!_), and the rest giggled. _Do I look funny? Or has someone made a joke about me?_

The oldest one stopped first and cleared her throat. "Ahem, sorry for staring, but there aren't many people who look like you around here."

"Do I look strange or something?" Naruto tilted his head and looked her in the eye in confusion.

She flushed and looked away. (_Shoot, was that rude? How'd I make her angry too?_)

The youngest one piped up this time.

"Nope, not strange, you're really, really cu—" one of the other girls, who looked to be his age, clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Umm, sh-she meant to say you look really, really d-different!"

The girl, who hadn't spoken up 'til now, said "Yup, you look different alright."

_Different? Is that bad?_

"What do you mean 'different?' You mean my hair?" Naruto asked, fingering a strand. "I thought it looked alright…"

"That's not it! Your hair's gorgeous!"

It was the girl who'd spoken up earlier (She seemed to have gotten over her anger, but she still looked a little red, so Naruto wanted to be careful.). As if to prove her point, she reached up (She was a hand's length shorter.) and buried her hands in his hair. Naruto's eyes widened and he jerked a little (The only thing preventing him from jerking back entirely was the fact that her cheeks were still a little red, and he didn't want her angry again. If she was anything like Sakura, he didn't want to find out.). Her eyes widened too, and she gave a sharp gasp, right before slumping down onto Naruto (Naruto's mind: _T__oo__ much contact! What happened to her?! What'd I do? What's with these girls?!?!_).

Naruto grabbed her under her arms to keep her upright as her friends rushed forward. The girl who had clamped her hand over the younger girls mouth and the younger girl tried taking over in holding their slumped friend, but her shirt was too slippery and her hands wouldn't leave Naruto's hair. The oldest girl snapped her eyes to Naruto and demanded, "What did you do to her?!"

"I didn't do anything! She just grabbed my hair and slumped over! What's wrong with her?"

The two girls were still struggling with trying to hold the girl, so Naruto scooped her up bridal style. "Hey, can you get her hands outta my hair? Maybe that's what did it, though I dunno why…"

The two, who had been trying to hold the girl up, moved from trying to take their friend from Naruto to trying to get their friends hands to stop clutching his hair (Naruto stooped down to accommodate them.). By now, most people on the street were looking at the spectacle they were making.

Their fingers got around hers to pull them from his hair, when they paused.

"Why'd you pause?"

The oldest girl was still glaring at Naruto, but stopped for the moment to see what her friends were doing.

(a/n: just to make things clearer: the oldest girl and younger girl are still going to be referred as such or variations until further notice, as for the 3 that are Naruto's age, 1 is the one who fainted, 2 is the one who put her hand over the youngest one's mouth, and 3 is the last girl who said "yeah you're different". Currently, 1 is in Naruto's arms, youngest and 2 are trying to get 1's hands out of Naruto's hair, and 3 and oldest are glaring, but oldest is seeing why young and 2 are pausing. On with story... Wow, this chapter is looong {10pgs so far} and quick. Sorry for the lateness.)

Youngest and 2 didn't answer.

Oldest and 3 went to check what their friends were doing, moving to grab their three friends' hands from his hair. They paused, hands in his hair.

"Umm… guys…? Can you just, um, NOT keep your hands in my hair?"

Naruto was feeling a little uncomfortable. He'd just come over to them to see why the hell everyone was giving him such strange looks and stares, and they start giggling. Next thing he knows, one decides to grab his hair and go limp, then he has the rest getting angry at him, and now THEY'RE grabbing his hair too! What was _with_ them? Konoha girls didn't do this, THAT's for sure. The girl he'd dubbed 1 gave a start in his arms (Naruto winced as it pulled his hair.), and turned a starry gaze up to him (Naruto: Huh?) and threw her arms round his neck and squealed.

Loudly.

_Ouch..._

That must've been some signal to the rest of them because they all squealed too (_Double and triple ouch._) and glomped him. Naruto strained to stay upright, which was pretty hard with 5 people clinging to him all at once. _Well, at least they aren't yanking at my hair anymore…_

Naruto couldn't hold them up anymore (Well, they were wiggling and squealing!), and flopped down, trying not to squish any of his passengers. Naruto wriggled out from under them, got a few steps away, turned to them (They were looking for him by then: "Where'd he go?"), looking as sorry as possible (_Really don't want this many possible Sakura's angry at me._), and said, "I'm really sorry about whatever just happened. Sorry for bothering you, and... um, bye!" Then, he got the hell outta there.

_What is WRONG with them?_

_________________________________________________

- - -Later, a few blocks away from where Naruto left the girls- - -

"Hah... hah... I don't think they... hah... followed me… What was wrong with them? Whatever, just hope no one else is like that…"

Naruto checked his list again and decided to check a couple of them out.

Going into a bookstore, he grabbed a science book off the shelf. Opening it, it only took him a minute to realize that he didn't get science any more than he usually did. He flipped through the book, seeing if he could remember anything that he read. Nope.

He landed on the part of the book that went through reproduction. Naruto just flipped through it scanning it briefly and moving onto the next page.

**~He he...~**

_What are you laughing abou—_

_Oh shit._

Naruto could remember everything from that section… _Jeeze, does that mean I can remember everything about sex? Before, during and after? Oh well, I guess I can add that to my notes in any case… even though it is SO unfair!!! (_Naruto actually felt tears in his eyes._)_

Naruto moved around the book store for anything else that popped out at him, but left when he found an entire section filled with orange books like the ones Kakashi-sensei read (_It's so sad that such a pure colour used on such pervy stuff._).

Wandering around, he saw a shop person struggling with a crate and helped him out. Unfortunately, he ripped his shirt. In both the front _and_ back. _How the hell'd that happen?_

People around him were giving him the same look those girls had been giving him before they went crazy. Looking around quickly, he spotted a clothes shop nearby and darted inside. It looked a little expensive, and he only wanted a couple of plain black t-shirts (for when he got back too). Grabbing one that looked to be his size, he went to the lady at the register to buy it. She had a weird gleam in her eye, and Naruto backed up a little (He had learned to be wary of eye-gleams.), but she whipped around the counter and had his bicep in a death-grip before he could even think to blink.

"Why, hello, sir. Why don't you look around our shop, hmm? We have a wide selection of shirts to choose from."

"B-but, I just need a plain black t-shirt, that's all… This is the cheapest thing here, anyway..."

"Oh, don't worry about that…There's... uh..." She snapped her finders a second later, "There's a special discount for you! You're the… 32nd customer today! And you can tell everyone where you got the shirts! We can sell you some nice pants to go with them, too! I see that you're a ninja for the Leaf! We have just the thing for you," and before Naruto could make any objections, she herded him around the room, holding things up to him, and eventually, he had a giant pile of clothes in his arms. She then guided him to the register and started checking the clothes out.

"Hey! I can't afford all of these!"

"Don't worry sir! It's a... an 80% discount for you! The only catch is that you have to tell everyone where you got all of these clothes! Just tell them it's from 'X-pensive Ninja & Everyday Wear' (a/n: Still tired, please forgive the weirdo name.) and that's it! Now then, with all of the discounts, it comes up to $15.75, and here's some, um... complimentary boxers!"

Naruto paid her, eyes wide as she handed him one of the t-shirts to put on, shoving the boxers (_Woah! Silk!_) into the bag with the rest.

She handed him his receipt and he headed out, bags in hand, only vaguely noticing the stares he was receiving on his way out, and completely oblivious to the flashes from the register woman taking pictures. He snapped out of it enough to quickly run back to the inn to drop off his things (Zabuza giving him a weird look), then he headed out again, this time stopping in at a small art gala (He noticed on his way around town that no matter how quiet or sneaky he was, everyone noticed him.). There were a lot of pieces, but only a few really stood out to him, though some of them ones he didn't even like. When he checked their prices, his jaw dropped. All of them were 6+ figures, save for one. The only one that wasn't, was, in his opinion, the best. It was fairly dark in colour, but it had so many splashes of colour running across it. It was really mesmerizing, and, he started noticing that the splashes of colour sometimes made things. A glowing pair of yellow eyes there, and those weren't multi-coloured speckles, those were tiny detailed birds. He checked the price and found it was in his range. Only a little more than a hundred dollars. He figured, why not? Naruto bought it. He made another trip back to the inn to drop the wrapped painting off, and then he checked his list.

Intelligence:

Book (math, science, lit.) – X – Not any smarter, except for now knowing WAY more about reproduction than I want to know

Memorization – X – It's selective. I remember everything that I don't want to know about reproduction

Leader – X – I dunno if I can lead, but the Council wouldn't let me, in any case

Trade (Profession/Buy/Sell) – O – Got a really good deal on clothes (10 shirts and 11 pants for $15.75, 5 pairs of silk boxers as a bonus) at 'X-pensive Ninja & Everyday Wear'

Art – XO – I think some are cool and pointed out the ones that were worth the most without looking at price… Not too crazy for the art, though

Spying – X – Everyone kept noticing me, no matter what

Information from enemy (Hostage/Torture/Interrogation) - ? – Can't check…

Naruto wandered down a street for a while, wondering how he could check the last thing on his list… Maybe he could ask old man Hokage…?

Before he could think of anything else, he was tackled from behind (He, thankfully, stayed on his feet though.).

Before he could react, he felt a hand comb through his hair and heard something terrifying. A giggle. A very familiar giggle.

_AH! It's THEM!_

Sure enough, he heard answering giggles from behind him. And in front of him, and on either side of him_. Oh God, I'm surrounded!_

It was 1 who was currently clinging to his arm, and Youngest moved to his right to take his other arm captive.

"Hey, Mimi, you didn't have to be so rough! You could have hurt Fox-Chan!"

_Fox-Chan…? Who…?_

"Aww, Raine-onee-chan, (a/n: I think onee-chan is like sister, and onii-chan would be like brother) he's okay! He's a ninja! Ninja are trained to bear even the worst pain! Right, Fox-kun?" the newly dubbed Mimi (previously known as 1) asked.

_I'm Fox-Chan? Wait, Fox-kun?_

"Yeah! And Fox-kun is tough!" Youngest said, hanging off his arm.

Oldest, now known as Raine, just sighed, then looked Naruto over.

"That's not the point, Misa, Mimi."

_So Youngest is Misa? Oldest is Raine, and 1's Mimi… Whatever, I gotta get out of here before they go crazy again…_

"Hey, um, could you just let go of my arms? Please?"

2 decided to speak up at this. "What? So you can run away from us again? It took us all this time to catch up to you!"

"Yeah! We had a hell of a time trying to catch up to you!"

"Why are you following me? I don't even know you!" Naruto was freaking out at this point, struggling to get his arms free without hurting Misa and Mimi.

They went silent for a moment, then Raine spoke up.

"Right, you don't know our names. Well… ahem, I'm Raine (Oldest), the one holding your right arm is Misa (Youngest), left is Mimi (1)," and pointing to the shorter of the two left, "and she's Raych (3), and she's Shiroika, but Shiro for short (2). There, you know us now…"

"Now, how about introducing yourself, Fox-Chan?" asked Raych with a wink.

_Why is she winking? Does she have something in her eye?... Shoot, they won't leave me alone, will they? Maybe if I give my name, they'll relax their hold and I'll be able to slip away…?_

**~Hehehe, I don't think that that'll happen. I think you're stuck with these lovely ladies for the evening.~**

Naruto almost groaned aloud. The voice was a little more knowledgeable about these kinds of things than he was (_B__ut__ since it's a voice in my head, does that mean I have knowledge that I myself don't know about? Does that mean I know more about things than I'm letting on to myself…?_), so it was most likely right.

"Well?"

"My name's Naruto…"

"Naruto… what?"

"Um," _S__hould__ I tell them my real last name? What if they start stalking me?! No—calm down Naruto. After tomorrow, you'll never see them again…_ "Naruto Uzumaki..."

__________________________________________________________

Something was bugging Naruto as he walked around with the five girls holding him against his will.

"Hey, why'd you all go crazy when you were yanking on my hair earlier? And calling me Fox-Chan…"

2– I'm sorry, _Shiro_ mumbled something too low for him to hear.

"Pardon?"

"U-um… your hair is just really soft… It just shocked us…"

"Yeah! What hair products do you use? Your hair feels like puppy fur!" Raych exclaimed, reaching up and combing her fingers through his hair.

"Super silky! Oh, and for your other question, you just look fox-like, Naru-Chan!" Misa piped up.

"Shush! Stop bugging Naruto-Kun about his soft and silky hair!"

_Ah, I think, out of the lot of them, I like Raine the most.. She's still crazy, but at least she doesn't go overboard… Now, if only they would loosen their hold on me… Oh, hey, Fuzzball?_

**~Yeah?~**

_Are you a fox?_

**~Ding ding ding! We have a winner! It was them who helped, wasn't it?~**

_Yeah… figures that the village pariah would have the most hated animal of the village as a voice in his head…I guess they aren't so bad… but I'm still going to escape them, no matter what…_

**~Bah! What do those villagers know anyway!~**

___________________________________________________________

_Why won't they leave me alone? It's 10:15 already!_

Since they found him, the five girls had stuck to him like Velcro.

A punch to his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts (Not that he was really in them).

"Aww, Naru-Fox-Chan is ignoring us! So mean!"

"Mimi (1)! Stop hitting Naru-kun!"

"Raine-Chan (Oldest)! Like I said before, he's a ninja, he can deal with a little pain… Although, maybe I should kiss it better…"

Misa (Youngest) gasped and the rest erupted in giggles.

Raych (3) grinned. "Well, it's true that ninja's are trained against pain, but are they trained against pleasure?"

"Hah! I doubt that the toughest ninja alive could keep their sense against that!" laughed Shiro (2).

That began an argument between the girls, each girl adding her own comments to the mix.

What they had said got Naruto to thinking... _"Ninja are trained to bear even the worst pain!" ,"But are they trained against pleasure?", "I doubt that the toughest ninja alive could keep their sense against that!"_ Their words whirled around his head.

_What if…That might just work… Gotta find Kakashi-sensei…_

With a new sense of purpose, Naruto dodged out from their group, shouting a quick 'bye' and a 'nice to meet cha' behind him as he took to the rooftops, making his way to the inn, only one thought on his mind:

_I think I might have just found my use!_

~TBC~

8245 words!!! And 14 pages! Please note, this isn't beta'd, as soon as it is, I'll put up that version instead! Sorry again for the late update… Couldn't figure out a proper ending without it sounding as if it was being cut off.

Anyway, here are the possibilities for Naruto's bloodline's name:

BLOODLINE NAME POSSIBILITIES;

Shikongan – Blue-purple eye/Blue-violet eye

Saiinzaigan – Aphrodisiac eye

Sasoigan – Temptation's eye

Kowakugan – Seduction's eye

Gokurakugan – Paradise Eye

Murasakigan – Violet eye

Kofunsaserugan – excite eye (or excitement eye maybe)

Ukiukisaserugan – exhilarated eye (wah! It's so looong)

Kyuugan – 'Kyuu' from Kyuubi

Tsunegan – 'Tsune' from Kitsune (means fox)

Kitsugan – 'Kitsu' from Kitsune (still means fox)

Kitsunegan – Fox eye

Youkogan – Fox eye (youko can also mean fox, also Kyuubi is aka Kyuubi no Youko)

Ooogan – Ooo eye (XD from my sis)

Get in your votes (2 fave's maybe), I'll keep it up for maybe a chapter or two, then I'm just basing off what I like and what votes I have.

Hope you all like, and quick warning: I'm going camping on either the 16th or 17th for a week or so, so I'll try to put up another chapter or two to make up for it.

Read and Review, please… and VOTE!!!


	5. Chapter 5 What the!

I'm Sorrrrry! it's so late for the updating!!! but i figured out how to start it and i'm now working on the next chapter since this one is so short, so hopefully it's all good. Oh, and this is un-beta'd as of yet, and i'll be switching up the beta'd version when i get it back!

Thanks to all the reviewers, please keep voting! Thanks to Alternative Angel for helping me get through the bad case of Writers Block (dun dun duuuuuhn *lightning flashes*), so props and snaps and all that gppd stuff to ALTERNATIVE ANGEL!!!! who is also my awesomely awesome Betaaaaa!!!

So heres the chapter!

Chapter 5

What the…?

Opening my eyes, I came to consciousness… or was it really consciousness? I didn't get knocked out, I didn't fall asleep... I was just not there and now, I am…. But where am I?

Sitting up, Naruto was confused to see that he was in a sewer. Damp, yellowish cracked walls, rusty (Or was it mouldy?) pipes ran along on some bits of the walls and all along the ceiling, steady drips coming from some joints, creating the only sound Naruto could hear other than his own breathing.

_It's so quiet_.

Used to having some other sounds around him, whether it's people far off or near, wildlife, a stream somewhere, or even the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves, it was unsettling to only be able to hear himself and the echoing drips of water around him.

_Hmm, how did I get here?... And where is everyone?_ Naruto could see that he was in one hall way (A tunnel?), and straining to look ahead, he could see that there was a fork in the hall way/tunnel. A wetness seeping into his shirt and pants brought Naruto's attention to something else. He was sitting in a puddle. In a sewer. In a rusty, old sewer that looked as if it had been around for a long while. Hmm...

"Eugh! That's _nasty_!" Scrambling to his feet, Naruto attempted to wring out his shirt and pants. _Who knows what's been sent down here… Ugh, deal with it later…_

His disgust put aside for the moment (in a secluded box at the far ends of his mind), Naruto tried to think about what had happened to have put himself into this position.

_What'd I do? Get shoved into the toilet? Nah, I'm not that clumsy, and I wouldn't be able to fit either. Besides, there isn't anywhere I would have been- I dunno- flushed from, anyway. _Which was true since, aside from some cracks in the walls, there wasn't any hole or anything that sewage would come in from.

_Maybe I'm in a waterway? Aw, that's gross, I'm drinkin' water that came from here? Yuck! ...Or maybe this is the place where rainwater and stuff comes before it gets clean… but there isn't any current, so where's the water comin from? Where's it leaving? Did all this water come from the drips? Jeeze, great, if I can't find my way out, it'll be a slow death. A very, very slow death… hmm… but how did I GET here? I feel like I know how I got here, but I can't get anything solid… Maybe I can find something that'll jog my memory…?_

Looking behind him, all he could see was darkness. _How does this place get lit? There's no lights that I can see…_ Figuring that action was better than waiting for death (and a looong wait for one, at that), Naruto headed down the lit hallway (What? Nice-ish lit hallway/tunnel thing vs. dark creepy hallway where I'm going to probably trip and fall on something pointy. Which would you have chosen?), stopping when he reached the fork. _If it has three ways, does it still count as a fork?_

_Hmm, creepy tunnel A, B, or C? Not too fond of the options…_

Tunnel A, to the left, Tunnel B, straight ahead, and Tunnel C, to the right, all looked the same, with only minor differences. Tunnel A looked the oldest, with Tunnel C looking the second oldest. Tunnel B looked relatively new… new-ish… whatever. Back to differences.

They were all the same yellowish colour, with the same rusty pipes running along some parts of the wall and all along the ceiling, but Naruto felt like they gave off a different… colour. Does that even make sense? It was kind of like they gave off different feelings, but, whether it made sense or not, it was more of a colour feeling than an emotional one, though they each gave off some of those too.

Tunnel A, for instance. It seemed to have a blue feeling. Not blue as in sad or unhappy, just blue, like on a clear day. The feeling it gave off was kind of lonely and resigned, but at the same time it gave off a sense of purpose, and a kind of far away happiness, like it only came by for short visits with long intervals. _Ok, so that's a lot of emotion, but it still feels more like a colour. Same for the rest of them._

Tunnel B felt purple. Or violet ... whatever. Everything felt kind of new, like if you just started a new book, or if you got some new jutsu to learn, or if you had been drawing something for a long time, then started to draw something new. It was refreshing, but- at the same time- pretty intimidating. Along with the new feeling, there was a lot of confusing and conflicting emotions. Like an intense happiness offset by flashes of dread, excitement dampened by disappointment, a great strength of will pushed by a deep fear. _I'm not sure if I should like or fear this tunnel…_

Tunnel C gave off a glowing red feeling. It also felt old. Reeeaaally old. Even though Tunnel A seemed to be the oldest tunnel, this tunnel gave off the feeling that it had been around longer. Like if you had put an old man's mind into a child's body, or put a 100 year old tree into a new neighbourhood. Overall, it was the ocean to Tunnel A's lake. Aside from the old feeling, there's only a few other feelings. A sort of cunning playfulness, an age-old wisdom, and an unpredictable & earth-shattering rage. The playfulness was easy to connect to. It gave the same feeling as the Voice did. That was only one though. The wisdom was easy to understand, feeling like it came with the oldness. The rage was what caught Naruto's attention the most out of those three. It was a bone chilling, deep-seeded rage that seemed like it would swallow you whole, crushing the life out of you. _The fact that it feels like the Voice is as much a safe feeling as that anger is a dangerous one. And that old feeling is kind of intimidating…_

The bleak, yet happy Tunnel A, the intimidatingly new Tunnel B, or the safe, but dangerous Tunnel C. Those are my options, huh? Hmm, what if one of them leads to another and I end up heading back here? Maybe I should make a mark somewhere or something to show that I was here…

Looking down, Naruto noticed that he didn't have his weapon's pouch on him. What? The only time I take it off is when I'm home or getting ready for bed… Oh yeah! Almost forgot about this one…

Opening his too small, orange jacket (Hey, didn't I rip this? ...Yup, a rip down the back. Sigh...), he rummaged through his inner pockets, giving off a relieved sigh when his hand came in contact with the hilt of his 'just-in-case' kunai. Pulling it out, he brushed his stomach. Heh, just the opposite of when -!!! Yeah, I remember! I got away from those freaky wacko girls to find Kakashi and tell him my bloodline use! Yeah! I burst into the hotel room and was all like –

----------------------

"Kakashi-sensei!! I figured it out!"

"What? It took you this long to figure it out?"

"– what? You mean you already knew?" I got momentarily side-tracked by Sasuke, who was sitting in his emo corner of emo-ness.

"Yeah, I figured you already knew that you were an idiot, dobe."

Jackass. Trying to ruin my mood. But he won't succeed! Stupid teme.

"Stupid teme, not even you are going to ruin my mood! Kakashi-senseeeiii! Where are you?"

Kakashi's head peeked out from the doorway to the bedrooms, orange book in hand. "Quiet down, Naruto. Now, what is it? You figure out a use?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I sure did! See?!" Dodging around the pile of stuff that I had dropped off earlier, I flung myself towards Kakashi, holding my notebook out in front of me. I just managed to stop myself from barrelling over him, shoving my notebook in front of his face.

Pushing the notebook from directly in front of his face, Kakashi put is own book into a pocket with a sigh. Taking the notebook from where I still held it out, he headed back through the doorway. Following him, I saw that he had sat down on one of three chairs in the room. There were two beds also in the room, with a night table between them.

Grabbing a chair for myself, I practically vibrated in my seat, watching him read through my notes. Kakashi didn't give away what he was thinking as he scanned down the page.

"I can't see how it would be of use medically, and I don't think it would help out with anything technical. If that's what you were –"

"No, no! Next page!"

Sasuke wandered in at that moment, grabbing the last seat, raising an eyebrow at the notebook. Asshole, looks like he doesn't believe that I could make a list. Teme…

Haku and Zabuza also made their way in, moving to sit at the edge of the bed closest to the chairs.

"Anything?" What? I thought Zabuza would have at least a little faith.

"Apparently, it's on the next page, so give me a second."

Sasuke and I kept watching him as he read, Zabuza and Haku muttering to each other. What were they saying? That was unimportant at the moment.

I almost jumped when Kakashi jerked his head up to give me a wide-eyed stare.

When he didn't say anything, I started to get a little self-conscious.

"What?"

"Only about $16.00? Really? Was there a sale?"

I almost fell out of my chair. He's focusing on that?

"Yes, and no. Supposedly, I was the thirty-something-th customer. Now, keep reading!"

Kakashi gave me one last stare and looked back down. Sasuke gave me a questioning glance. Pssh, as if I'm telling him anything. You can find out from Kakashi, bastard. Oh, Kakashi's looking up.

"This… is…"

What's with all the pauses? What? Is he going to say it's crap or something?

"…Actually really good… I hadn't thought about using it out of the field… and this helps the village directly too. Good job, Naruto. I admit that I didn't think that you'd make something as organized as this…"

Taking the notebook from Kakashi's hand (He reached just before Sasuke... Ha-ha, sucker...), Zabuza sat back down and flipped back to the first page, Haku leaning in to read as well. It wasn't long until they flipped the page, and an even shorter amount of time until Zabuza started laughing and Haku smiled, both with looks of amazement in their eyes.

"You are one surprising kid."

Sasuke snatched the up the notebook and scanned through the second page. Then he blinked and re-read it, then turned to the first page. He looked kind of startled. Looking up, he opened his mouth to say something. Tch, probably going to say something like 'only a dobe like you.'

"Dobe, you –" _BANG!_

The door slammed open to show a frowning Sakura, clutching some bags in one hand and a receipt in the other. "_Pant_, Who…?"

_Hey… aren't those?..._

"Hey, Sakura, what're you doing with my clothes?"

Her eyes shot to me, pinning me with a fierce glare.

"Yours? You're telling me you got these clothes from X NEW? For only $15.75?"

"Huh? Well, those clothes are from 'X-pensive Ninja & Everyday Wear' and yeah, it was only about $16.00. Evidently, I was the 30-something-th customer today… Why do you ask?" _Why is she making such a big deal about it? They're only clothes… Hmm, I never actually got a look at them… Well, all I really noticed was that there wasn't nearly enough orange… What's wrong with 'em? Is it all bum clothing? But this shirt is cool, if a little tight… Wow, it went really quiet… Why's everyone looking at me? Or is there something behind me?_

Checking behind me, all I could see was the wall.

_Nope… So what are…?_

"What?"

I didn't see the fist flying towards my face at all… I didn't even see how Sakura managed to get from across the room in such a short amount of time. All I saw was wide-eyed stares from the others, and made a mental note to bug Sasu-Teme about his dorky expression, then a sudden pain, then darkness.

-----------------------------------

_Wow… Sakura has a mean punch…_ I thought to myself, rubbing my newly-blackened eye. _But that isn't quite how I got here, of all places… Sakura's strong, but not strong enough to send me into the sewers_. I couldn't help but strain to look behind me, checking the ceiling for a hole and the ground for rubble. Nope and nope.

Besides, I remember things that happened after that… Oh man, the agony… going through that once was one time too many.

-----------------------------------

I woke up to the smell of something burning and the sound of the others talking around me… _Hmm, if something's burning, then why am I so cold?_

And it was true, I was really friggin' cold. _Sure is drafty… Wow, my ass sure is comfy…_ From what I felt through my back, I figured I was on a bed, but something wasn't right… Why could I feel so much of the bed? I should be able to feel sheets partway up my calves, not all the way to my thighs. I should feel a lump around my waist from where I tied my orange jacket around my waist (Maybe they took it off so I would be comfy?). And what's with that burning smell? Maybe I should- I dunno- get up, or open my eyes or something, and check out what's burning? Maybe someone's cooking…? Nah, everyone here can cook…

Opening my eyes, I took in my surroundings. Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku were sitting in the chairs, talking in whispers too low for even my hearing to pick up, Sasu-Teme had his back to me, leaning against the doorway and looking to where I assumed was the mini-kitchen (Mini because it has a mini-fridge, a small toaster, a skinny stove and a too-small sink.). Sakura wasn't in sight. Looking down at myself, I realized why I was so chilled… I was only wearing the black t-shirt from that X-something-or-other that I put on earlier, and a pair of the black silk boxers. _They took off my pants AND changed my boxers?!?! What the fuck!!! Who DOES that? And what the HELL is that burning smell??_

I was starting to get a feeling of dread deep in my stomach as I shot out of bed and shoved past the Teme (who, by the way, was wearing that damn smirk of his.), to see what was happening in the mini-kitchen, to see what I feared was happening. What I saw was worse than waiting the three minutes for Ramen (Yes, it deserves a capital letter. It's that awesome a food) – heck, it was worse than running out of Ramen!

There was Sakura, standing in front of the skinny stove, my currently half-empty pack sitting next to her, grinning evilly as she watched wisps of smoke escape from the stove. And what was smoking in the stove, you may ask?

It seemed pretty obvious, but even so, I ran to the stove, jerked open the door, turning the switch to off, and could only stare, open-mouthed at the burning scraps that had been all of my orange clothes in my pack.

-----------------------------------

"Naruto, c'mon. You can't be that angry. You have other things to wear."

How could she say that I can't be angry? I have every right to be, and I am! They burned my clothes! Sure, they left my boxers and socks, but still! They BURNED my CLOTHES!

"You _burned_ my _clothes_!"

"Hn, you were a walking target in those, dobe. Why'd you go out and buy all those other clothes if you weren't going to wear them?"

Stupid teme, that is NOT the point!

"That's not the point! You burned my freaking clothing! _My_ clothing! Besides, I was forced by the crazy lady in the store!"

"You got forced to buy something by an old lady?"

"NO! Stop trying to twist my words, you asshole! I just went in there 'cause I needed ONE shirt, just ONE, and she grabbed me and started piling clothes into my arms, talking about some discount or another, and I was too freaked out by the prices – which were all three digit numbers – to do anything! Then, she cashed everything up before I could do anything, shoved one of the shirts on me, then pushed me out the door! What was I supposed to do? Fight an old lady?! Jeeze, besides, you BURNED MY CLOTHING!"

"Wait, what?"

Oh, the match-happy– stove-happy... whatever – _pyro_ speaks up. And what does she mean, 'what?' I figured it was obvious! I am seriously doubting my crush on her, at the moment.

"You burned my clothing!

"No, not that, baka. Why'd you need to buy a shirt?"

She's focusing on THAT? And the teme's looking curious too. Both of them are missing the point!

"'Cause my other one RIPPED! Now, _focus_! That isn't the prob--"

"It ripped? How?" What's with the doubt in the bastard's voice? Is it so shocking it ripped? And what does it matter _how_ it ripped? It just did! –Well, it was weird how it ripped in both the front and back…

"Yes, it ripped. I was helping out a shop-keeper person with lifting a crate and it ripped down the front and the back. Happy? Now, lets move on from how interesting my having ripped a t-shirt is and get to what is important. _Why_ did you _burn_ my clothes?" I practically spat the word _burn._

Sakura had the grace to look ashamed.

"We're sorry Naruto—"

"I'm not." Bastard. Asshole. Jerk. Butt-face. Octopus.

"—but it was for your own good. You would have presented yourself to be skewered by an enemy ninja, and—"

What?

"I can take care of myself! I ain't gonna die from being hit by a few kunai! Since I'm going to be the next Hoka—"

"—AND, with that bright orange, you're likely to give away our position. Orange kind of stands out in most conditions. Like in the forest,"

Well, maybe, but—

"And in snowy regions,"

Sure, but—

"And in grassy areas"

Bu—

"And even in cities and towns. Are you getting our point? Sure, we could have gone about it a little more delicately,"

I had to snort at that.

"But would you have actually listened to us? Or would you have just gone on about how you like your own clothes and how you don't care about what others think?"

I wasn't about to go and admit that what she was saying was making sense, I was still angry with her and you don't really agree with people you are angry with, but I would give her a break. Even so, I couldn't help but shoot back,

"But I DO like my clothes."

And when she looked as if she was about to say something about that, I cut in.

"BUUUT, I do understand where you're coming from. And I guess I can deal with wearing a little less orange… maybe limit it to a shirt or something…but not ALL the time!"

As if I was going to change EVERYTHING, just because they wanted me to. Maybe I'll wear all orange on my days off… Maybe even get an orange cloth for my hitai-ate… Hehe, that'll be fun. I couldn't help but grin a little when I imagined what their faces would look like if/when I came in with an orange hitai-ate.

I noticed Sasuke and Sakura share a surprised and slightly uneasy glance when I smiled, and it just made it wider.

Deciding to change the subject, I asked something that had been nagging me since after Sakura slugged me.

"Hey, Sakura, why'd you punch me?"

Was that a blush I was seeing?

"U-um, I saw the clothes bag and checked inside to see what it was, and then I saw the receipt, and the brand name. I was a little angry that one of you managed to get this kind of price. I had a-assumed that it was… well, that the one who bought them was Sasuke-kun, so when you said it was yours, I kind of freaked. I'm still a little jealous… but you of all people deserve these clothes."

That last bit was said with a smile… and Sasuke's smirking. Wonder why…

Wait—what?

------------------------------------

Later that night, after I yelled at Kakashi-sensei about not stopping Sakura and Sasuke from burning my clothes (His reply: I didn't notice… and you should work these things out on your own, anyway.), Sakura, Sasuke, and I were relaxing in one of the bedrooms, Sakura and I each lying on a bed, and Sasuke perched on the edge of the bed I was on.

We had been trying on the new clothes for the past little bit (Well, I was, since Sakura insisted I see how they looked on me.), but now I was in my pj's after I got tired of Sakura's random squealing and Sasuke's weird emo stares. We were just talking about random things, like what would happen if we hid Kakashi's book, moving to talking about my obviously selective photographic memory, which led to more talk about my stupid bloodline.

_Why do we have to talk about it? Argh, it's so embarrassing! Well, I guess I'll have to get used to it... I'm probably going to have to talk about it a LOT once we get back to Konoha… Oh, joy... Maybe I can just pretend I DON'T have a bloodline…_

"…Hey, Naruto..." That was from Sakura. Probably a question about my bloodline… Hmm, maybe I can just tell people that I dyed my hair…?

"Can you see the spots through a mirror?"

Hmm, or maybe I can—what?

"Huh?"

"Well, I mean, can you see the spots indirectly? Like through a reflection, or like through a video, or something?" She was staring contemplatively at the mirror set up in the corner of the room._Why didn't I notice it there?_

"Why would I need to see the spots of people through a video?"

_It's a good question, but still! I don't want to see actors 'zones!'_

"Dobe, it's a good question. Just answer it"

Damn teme.

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll at least check the mirror for that." Heaving myself up and trudging towards the mirror, I closed my eyes for a second and found that spot that I knew would flip the switch on my bloodline. Reaching the mirror, I looked sulkily at my violet, slitted eyes. _Seriously, purple? Ugh, at least there's still some blue around my freaky pupils… but the red around the edge is freaky._

Adjusting myself so I could see my team-mates in the mirror, I was kind of unsurprised to see their spots still. _Besides, what does it matter if I can see them in the mirror_, I couldn't help think to myself_… I can still 'feel' where the spots are… Heck, I'm across the room and I can 'feel' where their spots are…_

"Yup, I can see them… Big friggin' whoop…" Wow, it was REALLY hard to get excited over this…

"What's with the sarcasm?" Sakura demanded, flushing lightly. _No need to get all angry…_

"Well, it's not that great that I can see them through the mirror, since you are across the room from me and I can 'feel' where your spots are… I guess that being able to see the spots through a reflection would be pretty good if this is the limit of how far I can 'feel' where spots are… But who's to say that my range won't grow?" _Jeeze, you'd think they'd forgotten about my 'feel' for the spots… Wait, did I actually –_

"What 'feel'? You mean you can just tell where the spots are? Without looking?" That was from Sasuke… Why does he sound so angry? What—did he think I was keeping this from him _intentionally_? Trying to keep my team-mates in the dark? I thought I told them!

"Yes, and I thought I told you! Or at least mentioned it! Stop making me seem like the bad guy!"

Sakura cut Sasuke off when he opened his mouth to deliver some scathing comment or something. _Wow, I never thought that I'd see the day…_

"Whatever, let's just file it away as something interesting."

There was a sullen look (from Sasuke) and almost an uncomfortable silence followed.

… Wow, it's too quiet… Maybe I should say something… Hmm, do we have Ramen here? But then Ichiraku's Ramen won't be quite as rewarding when I get back, and any Ramen here wouldn't compare anyway… Hmm, maybe—

"Dobe, can you see any spots on yourself?"

Why do people interrupt my thoughts so mu—wait, what did he just ask?

"What?" My voice cracked halfway through the word. _Wow, that sounded weird… Hey, did I like hit puberty through that bloodline change? Is that why my voice is a little deeper? Oh, wait, this is unimportant at the moment, back to the issue of Sasuke asking STUPID questions… Did he break or something to ask that!?!_

"You heard me, dobe. Can you see spots on yourself?"

I couldn't speak, so I turned to Sakura, hoping that she would be able to vocalize how stupid that question was, how utterly ridiculous it was.

But no, she didn't look shocked. She looked curious. Curious! I feel like my brain is short fusing! God, first my clothes, now they're trying to burn out my brain!

"W-wh-what?! How is that relevant at all!? And why would I WANT to?!"

The teme rolled his eyes, but it was Sakura who answered.

"Well, you've used it against me when we were training and-and it felt pretty – w-well, it felt, u-um – w-well that's not the point, but it's understandable! So, can you?"

What the hell, that didn't make any sense at all! It's _understandable_? Ugh, I'm team-mates with total nut-jobs! Better get this over with… but after this, I'm shoving this memory to the farthest corners of my mind, locking it up, and flushing the key.

Sighing irritably and re-activating my eyes (When did I switch them off?), I looked down. Nothing. No spots. Looking up to tell them 'no, I can't,' I stopped short when I saw a faint glow coming from under my shirt. _What the hell? I can see other people's spots through their clothes…_

Ignoring the looks from my team-mates (They have NO SAY in this matter, since _they_ were the ones to _ask._), I lifted my shirt to see what was happening (How dare something be happening in my shirt without my knowledge!). It was the weird tattoo-ish birthmark spiral thingy that, now that I think about it, was probably the thing sealing the nine-tails in me… _If I got it removed in a tattoo shop, would that release the fox_?

It was glowing like a normal spot, but it wasn't red, white, or black. It was glowing purple. _Purple again! Why does it have to be purple?_

The glow shifted, like there was a purple fire just under the surface of my skin (_NOT a good thought._), kept in shape by the swirl of the mark.

"So? You got a mark on your stomach or something, dobe?" Looking up, I noticed Sakura and Sasuke looking between me and my stomach. Oh yeah, they're still here.

"It's the spiral mark. It's glowing purple," I replied, looking back down at the Crayola purple glow that was my belly.

"Purple now? Is this something else that you forgot to tell us? I thought there were only red, black, and white spots…" There was a clear accusation in the teme's voice. _What's with all the accusations?_

"No, this is new to me too. I wonder what's up."

I sent a little bit of chakra to my stomach, and was mildly surprised to see the purple glow turn more blue-ish. I sent a small look of surprise to Sasuke and Sakura, noticing Sasuke had activated his Sharingan and Sakura had a slightly worried look on her face. She said something, but I didn't really hear what. I was focused on the glow from my stomach, moving a chakra-filled finger over the spiral, starting from my belly button and working my way outward.

When I reached the end of the spiral, I was slightly disappointed when nothing happened. I didn't feel any different. There was nothing new. I looked up to my team-mates with a small frown on my face- ready to tell them that it didn't feel like anything- when I felt my stomach leap to reside in my chest. It felt like the floor had opened up underneath me, and I was only momentarily held up, just like in a cartoon, until I would drop. My throat closed up, and my eyes rolled to the back of my head. Then, there was only darkness.

TBC

So there it is, and here's notes about the voting, all things that have been pointed out to me by reviewers: (from the chapter that i'm replacing this with)

Here. (*#*= has note about it)

Shikongan – Blue-purple eye/Blue-violet eye*1*

Saiinzaigan – Aphrodisiac eye

Sasoigan – Temptation's eye

Kowakugan – Seduction's eye

Gokurakugan – Paradise Eye

Murasakigan – Violet eye *2*

Kofunsaserugan – excite eye (or excitement eye maybe)*3*

Ukiukisaserugan – exhilarated eye (wah! It's so looong)*4*

Kyuugan – 'Kyuu' from Kyuubi*5*

Tsunegan – 'Tsune' from Kitsune (means fox)

Kitsugan – 'Kitsu' from Kitsune (still means fox)

Kitsunegan – Fox eye *6*

Youkogan – Fox eye (youko can also mean fox, also Kyuubi is aka Kyuubi no Youko)*7*

Ooogan – Ooo eye (XD from my sis)

*1*- people apparently like this one because it's very ninja-like in the fact that it doesn't say anything about the bloodline except the colour it turns. Some have pointed out that most of the other names would get him killed by the villagers or tell too much about what his bloodline is…

*2*- see *1*

*3* - I'm taking this out b/c it's too darn long! And why have a name that no one can even sound out in their heads? It'll just mean that you'll see the first part of the name, then skim over it. I'm not writing it down again and again just for people to skim over it!

*4* - see *3* (tooo loooooonnnng)

*5* - people look down on Naruto b/c he has Kyuubi inside of him… trapped in him, whatever. The fact is, if it's named that, people will try/order to kill him, probably b/c they think Kyuu's trying/succeeding to take over.

*6* - if a giant fox rampaged your village and killed thousands of people, would you like fox's, even normal ones? This name(& the one above it), are just going to make ppl want to kill him more. That's no fun (also, it would mean I would have to write dozens of murder attempts, including for *5*).i'm not taking it off, but remember that please.

*7* - apparently youko means demon or demon fox or something to that extent. Sorry for the mix up. Also, see *6* (although I'm assuming you already have unless you have a thing against #6)

So that's the stuff about the names, and FYI, it's just stuff that you reviewers have pointed out. i'm just puttin it down so when you review, you have that in mind. you can vote for whatever you want, regardless of what other reviewers have pointed out to me. i don't necessarily care about the name too much, whatever happens will happen, and i'll just be there to write it out. I just put this stuff in there because you reviewers who reviewed it deserve to have your stuff mentioned. thanks for the input.

I'll keep the votes up for the next chapter, and all the chapters up till i actually have them talk about the name... psht, prolly going to be up for a couple of chapters.

Read and Review and Vote please!!!

~Doodled93~


	6. Chapter 6 Memory lane Part 1

Hey, here's an update (duh to me), and it's only part one! i just found that this part ended just right, and if i had continued it then it would have just not... flowed would be the right word i think.

I'm hoping to put up part two by the end of thanksgiving weekend, but it might be a little later than that since in an hour i'm going to Cirque Du Solei!!!!! and i don't think i'm going to be able to write any time after i leave for it. :P

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6 (Pt 1)

Then there was only darkness

-----------------------------------------------------------

Then, there was only darkness.

_Oh, yeah… but what happened after that? THAT doesn't explain why I'm in a sewer, water treatment thingy, or whatever this place is supposed to be…_

He strained to remember whether there WAS anything after that, anything that could have landed him in a sewer… but there was just a blank. It felt like there was darkness, and then he was here.

_And now, I've been staring at Tunnel A, B, and C like a dork while I went down memory lane… hmm, I can't remember anything else past the darkness, and I've already figured out that there was no place for me to have been brought down from, no holes I could have been sent down from. Maybe I should just pick a tunnel already and see where it takes me…_

Bleak, yet happy, blue Tunnel A, Intimidatingly new purple Tunnel B, or safe, but dangerous, red Tunnel C.

_Hmm__, I guess I could go down one, then come back and head down another if it comes to a dead end. I guess Tunnel A is pretty safe, but I should still make a mark on the wall or something._

He still had his kunai in his hand, and he moved it along the wall to the left, making an arrow heading into Tunnel A, then he headed determinedly into the tunnel.

The first thing Naruto noticed was the fact that there were a lot more cracks on the walls. They spilled across and up the walls like overlapping spider webs, some parts looking like someone attempted to patch them up, but gave up half way through. _Oh, great, I just have to choose the tunnel that looks half a crack away from caving in._

Looking up, Naruto noticed that there were mainly blue pipes in the ceiling (_Ha, I knew it felt blue!)_, but he hadn't walked long before skinny red pipes started popping up between the blue ones. It was around that same time when Naruto came to a door.

_What the hell?_

Slowing down to a stop in front of the door, Naruto could only stare at it for a minute.

It looked so out of place, all clean lines in a tunnel full of cracks. It was blue, the same shade of blue as the pipes, and it had an untarnished silver handle. _That's odd… and this has been down here how long? Oh well, better see what's behind it, it may be an exit._

With that thought, Naruto grabbed the handle and gave a twist-

—Cold. Dark. Screaming. Me? Yes, but someone else too. Hungry. Cold. Was warm before. Want to go back. Where is everyone? Want to see. Crashes. What? Cold. Screaming. Hungry. Need… something. Someone… food. Someone. Warmth. So alone. Where is everyone? So cold...

Someone's picking me up. Someone warm. Food? No. but comforting. Person smells good. But metallic. Making sounds. Don't know what. Feeling in stomach. Set on something soft. Surrounding light. More sounds. Silence. Cold feeling on stomach. Sudden warmth. Taken again. Air moving. Wind? Sudden movement. More wind. Loud noises. Bigger noise made by someone else. Rumbling noise made by another someone. More nice noise by Person. Same nice smell. Smoke. Sudden silence. Unaware.

Wake up. Person isn't there. Why? Come back. Old voice. Boney person picking me up. No. Wrong person. Bad feeling. Wet on face. Screaming. Me? Yes. Others? Yes. Many others. Come back Person. Please. Don't leave me alone—

-Naruto jerked his hand away, as if he had been burned. _What the fuck was that?! I didn't see anything, but that is DEFINITELY not the exit._

Staggering further down the hallway, he tried to gather his thoughts, tried to shake the feeling of complete isolation, of being abandoned. Of being alone.

_Not going to touch a__doorknob again… Well, maybe that's not the best way to go about finding a way out, but maybe if I just use my fingertips, or cover my hand with my shirt?_

With possibilities running through his mind, he made his way down the tunnel, dreading the sight of another door.

A while later he saw another door. A heavy feeling in his chest, he slowly reached out and touched the door, fully expecting for another episode to happen like with the last door.

…

Nothing.

_Well, I feel stupid now… Better try the handle. Oh, joy…_

Reaching for the door handle, this time less hesitantly but still wincing, he turned the handle– and immediately felt the floor drop out from beneath him.

_Just like how I got here... Maybe it'll take me ba-_

—Walking down the street, I could feel the cold stares from people throughout the street. Why do they hate me? I didn't do anything wrong… It isn't fair! And they make the other kids treat me differently too. How am I so different? Sure, I have the marks on my cheeks, but so do Kiba and Chouji, and they don't get treated any different! It's just not fair! When I'm Hokage, things will be different for sure! Then they'll HAVE to respect me—oof!

I was so wound up in my thoughts, I guess I wasn't paying attention and bumped into someone. Oh, no… I hunched up my shoulders, wincing away from the person with my head bowed , fully expecting a cuff to the head or a kick.

I peeked up from beneath my bangs when the hit didn't come. It was Iruka-sensei. He wasn't my sensei, at least not yet. He would be, in a month and a half, when the school year started. I couldn't wait till then, because then I would get to learn cool ninja moves & jutsu, and the other kids wouldn't be able to ignore me, at least in class, and their parents couldn't pull them away from playing with me. It would be great! But for the 43 more days, Iruka-sensei wasn't technically my teacher. Not yet.

Anyway, he gave me an odd look. The orientation thingamajig was three days ago, where parents brought their kids to see the school they were going to, and got to meet their teachers. While I didn't have parents, old man Hokage came with me. The other parents weren't openly glaring at me when he was around, or when those ninja with the masks – Anbu, I think – were around, so that was good. Iruka-sensei hadn't given me a glare when I got introduced to him, but I don't know if it was just because it was the old man who was introducing me to him. 

Right now, he was giving me a look that looked pretty sad, and he was frowning too, but he also looked like he was fighting with some decision. After a moment, he seemed to decide. The frown was gone now, and only a shadow of the sadness was left in his eyes, then he gave me something that I didn't get too often. He smiled at me.

Although I didn't lower my hunched shoulders completely, I lowered them slightly, raising my head a little to give him a little grin, muttering an apology for walking into him. His smile widened, the scar over his nose crinkling slightly. Then, he asked me something that totally shocked me. He asked if I wanted to get something to eat, maybe talk over what the school year would hopefully be like.

Overjoyed, I happily accepted, asking if he wanted to go to Ichiraku's, just stopping short of grabbing his arm and pulling him there in my excitement (He may be nice now, but best not to push my luck.). He accepted, commenting on how he liked going there, and we set off down the street, ignoring the looks from others down the street. I was jumping for joy, even risking touching his arm to hurry him before –

-Yanking his hand back, he stared at the door, shaking slightly.

_That was me, before I joined the academy… What the frig was that? I actually remember that, so what the hell? Does that mean that that other door is- was another memory or something? Then, why weren't there any images? Why was it so dark?_

He stumbled his way down the hallway, still shaking, with thoughts running through his mind, trying to figure out what had just happened.

_I don't remember that other door, the dark one. But what actually made it dark? Was I blinded or—no, that one was more feeling than anything… Maybe it was from when I was a baby? From when I hadn't even opened my eyes yet? Then who was Person – the person – and what was happening?_

Using the cracked walls for support, I vaguely noticed that the walls were crumbling more in this area, or that there were more red pipes running along with the blue. But my eyes were farther ahead, looking for the next door.

_But what if the doors aren't actually memories? What if it was just that one door that was a memory and the other was something else entirely different?_ As unlikely as it seemed, it would be best to check. _In any case, the next door might be the exit from wherever this fucked up place is. I don't care where it leads, but the first exit I find, I'm taking it. Frig, where the hell is the ne – there it is!_

Letting go of the wall, he sped towards the next door, barely seeing anything but the battered cracking doorknob before he grabbed it and twisted it open, feeling the floor fall out from him just like the last time. Only this time, he didn't just land into himself. He landed in himself while-

—falling hard to the ground, I scrambled to get to my feet, feeling my body scream as I did so. A boot came crashing into my rib cage, bringing me back down from the half-crouch I managed to get myself into. Another boot followed from behind to smash into my back, knocking the wind out of me and surely leaving a bruise, if not breaking something. Half curled up, I tried to rise again and coughed up blood. Someone grabbed my hair, twisting savagely, forcing my face upwards, just in time to catch a fist to the face.

There was a crunching sound and suddenly something wet dripped down my face, the coppery taste of blood filling my mouth until I felt like I was going to drown. My head was shoved to the ground, and I barely had enough time to move my hands to block myself from the unforgiving asphalt. I didn't know how I managed to stumble into a run, heading towards the main street, not bothering to call for help. No one would answer.

Something whistled past my ear, clipping the skin as it went by to add a new hurt to my already aching body. It didn't matter at the moment. All that mattered was that my legs hadn't given out yet, and that meant I could run away. 

Only a few feet from the brightly lit street, something hit me hard in the back of my head. It hurt, oh, it hurt, but I still had to run. Now on the street, only half of the danger was over. They could no longer hurt me directly, but if they ran after me and caught me, then the hurt would double.

I couldn't go to the hospital, no help there, and it's too far to get to the old man. I had to get to my apartment. There were seals in my apartment that they wouldn't be able to get past, and this time the thugs weren't ninja. The streets were spinning beneath my feet, and I kept on bumping into people, but I didn't care. Gotta get home, please, just let me get home–

_-Please! ...I guess that answers that… Ugh, why'd it have to be that one_…

He sagged back against the wall opposite the door, sliding down to sit, dropping his head to his knees. Shaking, he looked up at the door, just now noticing the state it was in. _No, not just now, I noticed the cracked doorknob… God, why didn't I stop?_

The door was just about off its hinges, bending outwards as if something large and heavy had been slamming against it for hours, large cracks running across it. It had scuff marks, patches covered in filth, and chipped bits, making it look as if it had been thrown down a cliff, then left in mud. Its handle, as he noticed before, was battered and cracking, brass to the other doors' silver.

_Stupid, stupid. I'm so stupid… _Tiredly getting up again, he made his way down the hall, feeling in a daze.

_I guess I have to go through the rest of the doors… I guess it's all my memories… but what happens when the doors stop? Am I dead? Is this the whole 'life flashing before your eyes' thing? Well, it's not really flashing and there's two other tunnels so… Whatever, I'll just keep checking the doors for an exit… Still, I can't help but wonder what's in the other tunnels…_

So, continuing on his way down the tunnel, he tried each door, re-experiencing parts of his life, some good, some not so much, but none of them were exits. The doors just went on and on.

-Door, open, the day the academy was teaching Henge.

-Door with dent in it, open, making up Oiroke no Jutsu and getting hit.

-Door with two dents in it, open, learning the Kawamiri and combining it with Oiroke no Jutsu, then getting hit twice.

-Pink door, open, crush on Sakura-chan.

-Grey door, open, failed test.

The doors just went on and on, moving past pranks, training, tests, and actions. How much time had passed, he didn't know, but he started to slow down when he noticed that the memories were from the past few years.

It was a scary thought, that he would reach a door that would show him being stupid and tracing the spiral on his stomach, his last memory before he ended up here. _But what about after that?_

-Door, open, failing graduation

_Would I just be stuck here?_

-Door, open, stealing the forbidden scroll.

_Would I just be roaming this dank place, just watching my life, over and over again?_

-Door, open, Iruka-sensei giving me his headband.

_What if I just don't exist after it?_

-Door, open, teamed up with Sasuke and Sakura, and final test with Kakashi-sensei.

_What was the point of any of this if I do?_

-Door, open, first C-rank mission, first fight.

_Would anyone actually miss me?_

-Door, open, Zabuza encounter.

_Would anyone remember me?_

-Door, open, talk with Haku.

_Did I do anything that's worth remembering?_

-Door, open, fight on bridge.

_Oh, god, how many more frigging doors are there? Why the hell are these doors' memories so close together!? I just did all these things in the past week! What the fuck!? The next door better be a fucking exit, because I am NOT going to die, I have NOT died, and I am NOT going to deal with this anymore! No more "what ifs", no more "would any–" ...What the hell?_

He had walked for a while, and there hadn't been any more doors. Now, a familiar sight was ahead: a fork in the tunnel. Walking closer, He saw that it broke off three ways… and the tunnel going left had an arrow carved into the wall heading into it.

pt 2 comin soon (like really soon)

So there it is, part 1, and please don't mind the freaky pov changes.

I'm working on part 2 now!

Review Please!

~Doodled93~


	7. Chapter 7 Memory Lane Part 2

HEY!! Second part of Chapter 6!!! so exciting!! Hope you enjoy!! Oh, and for the rest of November 2009 i'm not going to be able to update, or at least it won't be untill the end. NaNoWriMo (National novel Writing Month, seen at )is this month!!! so i'm going to work on that... OH! and go to my author's page thingy and vote whether you want this to be yaoi, or hetero, or whatever... i'm not takin into account anyone's vote unless they go there and click on that little 'vote' button!

ENJOY!!!

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I stared.

And stared.

I couldn't help it... _how the fuck did that happen? I didn't turn; there was no bend, so how the hell did I walk a straight line and end up back here?!?_

Sagging against the wall, still staring at the arrow that I had carved into the wall, I tried to piece together what the hell had happened to put me back here... _best to start in the beginning_.

_Okay, wake up in this place, walk for a bit, try to figure out how I got here, categorize the tunnels, pick a tunnel and carve arrow heading into said tunnel, head straight into tunnel, figure out that doors are memories, continue straight while checking doors for exit, have mini-freak out about last door, walk straight here... hmm there aren't any turns or bends in that... okay, so the only way that I wouldn't have noticed walking in a circle is if it was a reeeeeally slight curve, so then it would be a reeeallly big circle, wouldn't it? _

_Fuck, how frigging long have I been walking? Fuck, why didn't I buy a watch?! Because it felt weird, I think. Whatever! That's no excuse! I bet stupid Sasuke-Teme has a friggin watch! Wait, why did I need a watch again? Oh yeah, because I walked a straight line for who knows how long aiming to go from point A to point B and ended up at Point fucking A again without turning!!!!!! Argh! Haah! _

_Okay there Naruto, calm down, think about this... what's one way to figure this out? Hmm... _

_OH! I know, I'll just turn around and run back the way I came! It'll take waay shorter if I run and don't stop for the doors! Good job Naruto. Thank you Naruto. Okay, freaking myself out. Time to figure out this stupid place. Whoever designed it should be shot in the head. Twice._

Turning around, I started to jog, keeping my eyes forward and along the walls to try to see a curve. Any curve, or maybe a part where this tunnel splits off... _hmm, I wonder if the other two tunnels all lead here too...maybe I should start counting to help keep track of time... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9..._

I got to seven counts of sixty, keeping track with my fingers, still paying avid attention to the walls when I noticed something odd... where're all the doors? 48, 49, 50, that last little bit wasn't this long... but then again, I'm running now... or wouldn't that mean that it'd take less time to get to a door than it did when I was walking? That's eight, 1, 2, 3, I think so, and it makes sense... hmm... 10, 11, 12...

When I got to 11 minutes, I squinted ahead, hoping to see a door, and was relieved when I saw something ahead. Speeding up, a strange weight in my chest, I kept counting; 21, 22, 23, 24, 25......

....26.............27... Aw fuck, now that isn't right! How the fuck did that happen!?

Ahead, a stupidly familiar sight was coming closer: a fork that split three ways and...

_Maybe it's a different fork...?_

An arrow pointing into the far left tunnel.

_FUCK! It's following meee! Stupid fucking tunnel! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!!!_

I lashed out at the tunnel wall, containing a yelp of pain as the force of the blow chipped and cracked the wall, leaving a small indentation in the already cracked wall.

_Owowowowowowowowowwowowowowowowowouch!! Stupid wall, stupid tunnels!_

_Ouch! Ugh, know what Stupid tunnel? I am going to ignore you! You can be stupid by yourself! I'm going to find my way out, and that's final! I'm going to be the mature one here! So there! Nyah, nyah, nyah! _

I stuck out my tongue at the fist-imprint to further prove my point, then turned my attention to the IMPORTANT problem at hand (ooouuuch, it huuurrrtssss): which tunnel do I go down, intimidatingly new Purple Tunnel B, or the safe but dangerous Red Tunnel C…

_Hmm... In comfort levels, I'd go down Tunnel C, because it at least feels half-way safe... but wait, is that what The Stupid Tunnel wants? Is it just waiting for me to go for the one I'm more comfortable with so it can mess with my head and have me walk for possible hours and just end up back here again? HAH! I'm on to you, Stupid Tunnel! I know your games now! I'm going down Tunnel B! So THERE!!! Stupid, STUPID TUNNEL!!!! Bwahaha!_

Still laughing at the stupidity of The Stupid Tunnel (that's its title now. It really is), I marched into Tunnel B.

And my discomfort levels immediately shot up.

Damn you Stupid Tunnel... but I will not let this beat me! Believe it!

Feeling like my stomach was trying to rearrange itself; I took a deep breath and continued walking.

Looking around, I noticed that the walls were relatively smooth, with only a few cracks here and there, occasionally with a chunk of the wall all bumped out, like the person in charge with smoothing the walls had decided to skip that hand sized bit. _Lazy Stupid Tunnel maker..._

It wasn't long until the first door of Tunnel B showed up.

I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, seeing as how this tunnels doors could be more memories, in which case I'd probably start freaking out as soon as it got more recent (what happens after the last door!?), or it could be something totally different… _but if it's totally different, then why'd the doors stop short from my last memory?_

This door had a certain theme, like a few of the others, but instead of a few cracks or dents or scratches, this door looked like it was a few seconds away from bursting into flames. The door itself looked to be made of metal, the color ranging from a deep cherry red of cooling metal to the bright red that made spots appear in front of your eyes if you stared at it too long. Heat was rolling off of it in waves, causing my eyes to sting and my hair to feel dry.

The door handle didn't look to be as hot as the rest of the door; it was shiny silver and, like most of the other door handles, was completely untarnished. The doorframe looked just as cool as the handle, which was reassuring since it was made of a light wood.

At least I don't have to worry about catching on fire just yet… but if this door shows me something for a long while, would the heat from the door make my sleeve catch on fire? What if I don't notice it until after and by that time my arm'll have to be amputated!?

Before I could think up other things that would make me run away from the door, I darted my hand towards the handle, hoping that it was, in fact, cool, and not deceptively looking cool and I was just about to sear my palms off.

The now familiar sensation of the floor dropping out from beneath me gave me a flash of relief, right before I was thrown into hell –

– Fire. _Everything is burning!_ My skin was sizzling off, each cell feeling like it was individually bursting into flames, eating at my flesh like I would usually go at Ramen. Oh god it hurts! So, so much! I arched my spine when I felt like there was a searing blade of fire cutting slowly through muscle and ligaments. Oh, make it stop!

The fire in my veins seemed to surge suddenly, burning hotter, faster, searing the insides of my lungs. I couldn't scream, I couldn't _breath._ It was getting hotter and hotter, my heart beat was pounding in my ears, th-thump, Th-Thump, TH-THUMP! There were muted voices, sounding so close, yet so far away, like I was sealed into a thick bubble and people were just outside of it. I stopped screaming to take a deep breath, inhaling burning air. _When did I start screaming? _I became oddly aware of insignificant things, trying to push the burning, the stinging, from my mind, but only succeeding on mixing the two. 

There was a pebble pushing into my back. _Stupid rock._

Tears were escaping my eyes, stinging my blistered cheeks before they evaporated. 

My nose had an itch, just to the left, but I knew I couldn't scratch it, because it would hurt. _Stupid itch._

All the hair on my body was burnt, eyelashes, eyebrows… everything…

It also left a strong smell behind, leaving it to waft into my burnt nostrils. Stupid smell.

_Stupid rock. Stupid itch. Stupid smell._

_Stupid Naruto, getting into this stupid, stupid situation–_

I jerked my hand back, recoiling from the door. I crumpled to the floor, into the layer of water; curling up into the fetal-position as I tried to hide from the flames that I knew weren't there, huddling into the water and searching for relief from scorched skin I knew wasn't burnt.

Shivering, I stayed in that position for a few minutes, trying to move from the then to the now.

_I-I forgot when that happened… I didn't remember anything about it… it was just a blank… it WAS just a blank… but now that blank's been filled in… oh, god, how did I survive that? Ugh, no, Naruto, _I told myself sternly_. You WON'T let this get to you… it's just a memory, and you're all healed up AND that's probably when you got your bloodline… no, it IS when you got your bloodline. People don't just blow up for no reason! So get yourself together and move your butt down the hall, and OPEN the NEXT fucking DOOR!_

Pulling myself first into a crouch, and then straightening to a stand, I slowly continued down the tunnel.

_I guess these doors ARE memories… maybe Tunnel A's memories are from before my bloodline showed up, and this Tunnel is after it showed up… but what would the third tunnel be…?_

The next door came up pretty quickly, the glow from the last door was hardly out of sight. Unlike the previous door, this one was plain with a grey door and a brass handle. Not bothering to be hesitant about it, I grabbed the handle, again feeling the familiar leap from my stomach as the floor dropped out from beneath me. But this time, I knew exactly when this happened, and I didn't get swept away with the memories.

– I'm looking in a mirror. It must've been when I woke up and first saw myself… looking back on this… or looking at this now, I don't see why I made such a big deal about this… I mean, the hair's pretty weird, but it's also pretty cool… I've definitely seen weirder. Really, the only weird thing about it is its colour. Blonde at the roots, darkening to an orangey colour, then a red, and the tips are almost black; they're such a dark colour of red… I wonder whether it would stay that way if I cut my hair… I should probably do that in any case, it's down to the bottom of my neck! And my bangs are gonna get in my face even more… even with the head band, my bangs are gonna get over it, maybe even keeping you from being able to see the leaf symbol! Or maybe I should just put the headband over it… but that would be itchy… wow, how long did I actually stare at myself… and why is this entire memory about me staring at myself? Bah… well, I did have a bit of a freak out when I saw myself… I'm bigger (in all ways), taller, have…interesting… hair and I got a bloodline. But I still wish my eyes were a scarier colour… something, anything, more intimidating than PURPLE. My pupils are cool; all slit like, and they have a bit more red around them, and it's cool that I still have a bit of my normal blue around the edges of my irises, but still… PURPLE? Bah… oh, I think this memory's fading… wow, I was staring at myself for a–

_Long time…weird, ugh…. That memory was a bit of a letdown after the last one… not that I'm complaining that the worst that happened in this memory was a bit of narcissism…_

Moving down the corridor, I went through the doors as easily as I had in the last part of Tunnel A.

A metal door that had a head-shaped dent, open, training with my new ability. Not surprising that it looked like someone had been banging their head against it… that was an awkward experience over all…

Door, open, situation with the kid, and letting him sleep with me. Ahhhkwaaaard.

A door withy scribbles and notes over it, open, a small talk with Kakashi about the importance of figuring out a use, as well as me making notes. Felt sooo out of character there… well, except for the procrastinating…

A pink door, open, being mauled by Oldest, Youngest, 1, 2, and 3… what were their names again? Whatever… I'm just going to pray that it was a once in several lifetime's kind of encounter.

A door with "DUH" spray painted on it, open, me figuring out the torture use. Cause I figured that out all on my own! Why does the door have that on it though…?

I really do wonder what's at the end of all these doors though… wow, I've been walking for a while no—oh, there's the next one… sure is dark ahead…

Door, open, Sakura burned my clothes, I freaked out at her, team-mates and I started talking, they started asking questions, I traced the mark on my stomach—that was my last memory…

_Hmm… what's up next…_

I started walking down the hallway, trying to avoid the thought that if I headed along far enough, I would just end up back at the entrance to the tunnels again, noticing that the lights seemed to be getting dimmer.

_Aw, I hope the stooges who built this place kept up with their electricity bills…_

There was something solid up ahead. It was getting closer and closer as I walked, and at the moment, I couldn't seem to make the connection that it was getting closer _because_ I was walking towards it.

Ohmigod! It's a monster! Or no, maybe it's not a monster, maybe it's my DEATH! But isn't death always described as a LIGHT at the end of the tunnel? But what if whoever started saying that just said it as a rumour? Or if they said that for people who were going to heaven, or wherever good dead people go? What if, when you're a bad person and going to hell/wherever bad people go, you see a black thing at the end of the tunnel? Or maybe the black thing is just blocking the light, and I'm going to be stuck here for ever and ever?! Or maybe, maybe… hey, it's starting to just look like a –

OOF!

–wall…

Feeling around it, all I could feel was the walls, and there wasn't any noticeable change between the walls surrounding me and the wall in front of me. _So that takes out the possibility of a secret passage… hmm… this is really rough…_

It was true; the wall in front of me was rough and uneven, like someone had been chipping away at it with a stone (maybe someone who got trapped here before me? bad thought… besides, there's no bones/corpse around me to prove that…). Feeling around at the walls around me, I tried to find something, maybe a marker or something, and found something shocking.

On either side of me, there were two branching tunnels, directly to the left and right of me, about a hands length or two from my original path. They felt very familiar, but the one to my left didn't make any sense.

To my left, the tunnel felt blue, and to my right, it felt red. It was Tunnel A and Tunnel C.

_Bu-but… that doesn't make any sense!!! There wasn't any TURN when I went down Tunnel A, let alone a corner!!! What the fuck?! This place is screwing with me! Stupid fucking place, stupid fucking tunnels… this place is just fucked up, down and sideways!!!! Okay, okay, insanely fucked up annoyingness of the tunnel aside, what the hell am I going to do now? I'm not going back up Tunnel A, I've already been there, and if I did that it'd probably bring me back to that stupid ass fork… I guess there's really only one option, since I don't want to turn around and head back up this tunnel… there's no exit… _

_Tunnel C it is then. _

And with that in mind, I turned to the tunnel to the right and headed resolutely down it.

_Hey, since it's near the end, would that mean that I'm starting from the end of Tunnel C? Oh well, whatever…_

Walking down the tunnel, I couldn't help but be a little uncomfortable… like if you went into a really ritzy old place with a lot of expensive antiques around it… there's the awe at the oldness of it, but at the same time, there's the worry that you're going to make a wrong move and break something.

The walls were worn and smooth, very few cracks in the walls, and there was at once a smell like a camp fire and the smell of green things, like pine trees and ferns. It was an odd combination, but coupled with the reassuring feeling of the Voice, it was nice.

The first (or the last… would it still be considered the first if you start at the end?) door came up quickly. It was wrought iron, with heavy bolts and chains strung across it and it's handle was a curving swirl of iron of an ornate pattern. The door was already cracked ajar somewhat, and I wondered what that meant.

Would this be another one of the violent memories…? But I already finished all my memories with the last door… so maybe this is, like, maybe the future or something? Heh, maybe it's me as Hokage (XD)… but that would be silly if I could se the future just by opening the door… but then again it's silly that I could see my past just by opening a door too…hmm…

Aw, screw it, I'll take the chance.

I grabbed the handle, waiting for the floor to drop out from beneath me…

And waited.

And waited.

_What the fuck?_ The door swung inwards, revealing a shorter passage leading to an open space. The space was large, at least twice as tall as my apartment, maybe even taller than the old man's office, and was a little less than twice as wide as it's height. Pipes in varying hues of blue, red and violet ran along the ceiling, some running along the walls in random parts and patterns. All of this was very impressive, I might even have been able to get an awesome echo in here, but what really caught my attention was the gigantic cage that ran the length of the room, the depth of which I couldn't tell because of the shadows.

Moving forward, I stared in awe at the thick bars that ran from floor to ceiling.

…wow…

Peering into the darkness of the cage, I wondered what was in there… and nearly had a heart attack.

**~What are you doing here?~**

TBC!!!

TaDAA!!! so maybe not the best ending, but it's there!

so now, do these two things:

1- review. it's not that hard to do, seriously. i'm open to suggestions and if you have a question, i'll try to answer it. or just leave a comment. like i said, not hard to do.

2- go to my author's page thingy and vote! seriously! go to the top of this page, go to the top left corner (not the verry top, but in that area), click on "Doodled93" and at the top of that page, there's a poll... click 'vote' and vote about what kind of pairings you want!!! someone said that if i make it yaoi, then i'll lose all my readers, but the same could be said to making it boyxgirl since i've got more votes for yaoi at the moment! so VOTE!!!

thankyou, and have a nice month!

~Doodled93~


	8. Chapter 8 Furry not so Little Problem

**Hey, sorry for the lack of udating, but like i said in my last chapter, NaNoWriMo was on (and i finished it! isn't that great? 51035 words! www (dot) fiction press (dot) com /s/2743341/1/Gift if you want to check it out, though obviously with the dots dotted and the spaces taken out. ) but now it's over and i've recovered enough to finish this chapter!**

**so here it is! isn't it exciting? around 7000 words, 10 pages long... wow, after NaNo, i'm WAAY too focused on the word count. OH! and reminder to those who like to write... go to to sign up for the nvel writing thing... you can print your book for free if you finish the 50000 words by the end of the month! it's on during November, and you have untill the end of june to print off your novel! awesome, eh?**

**_Random thought of mine: haven't you noticed that both Naruto and Lupin from Harry Potter have hairy little problems? HAH!_**

**lol, so here's the chapter! please review at the end of your reading, because i require input of ppls opinions to continue!**

Chapter 8

**~What are you doing here? ~**

Eyes. Really, really big eyes. And teeth. And… nose… okay, now how to make an appropriate response… hmmm…where'd I hear that voice….

"AAH!"

Jerking backwards towards the chained door I came from, stumbling slightly and jarring my tailbone. I gingerly got up, my eyes darting from one huge red eye to the next. Where had I heard that voice before…?

**~Stupid. Come closer…~**

I did so, jerking back a second time when gigantic claws (that were bigger than me) darted from between the bars. Indignation smothered the fear, and I could feel myself flush slightly in anger.

"What the hell did you do that for? Asshole!"

The fanged mouth gave a (toothy :P) grin, a deep rumbling laugh escaping as the huge slitted red eyes narrowed with amusement.

**~I'll answer yours after you've answered miiine~**

The sing-song tone did nothing for the indignation, though I could recognise the tone from… somewhere. It calmed me slightly, though it didn't keep me from being a little (only a little) huffy ion my reply.

"Hmpf, as if I know. Someone stranded me in this nightmare of a dump, and I found you… now then, why'd you do that!? You coulda' killed me!"

**~Curiosity, that's all… I was wondering if it would one: break you from your fear, and two: if you'd be able to move in time. That's all. And you say that you don't know how you got here? I think you have a bit of an idea at least… lemme guess, you decided to trace the spiral mark on your stomach, didn't you? Idiot ~**

The voice was teasing, the sound of it as easily categorized as male as female. It had an echo-ey sound to it, most of which I lent to the acoustics of the room. It was so familiar, but where could I have… I mean, I've never met anyone who's this massive, and I've never been to this freaking sewer before in my life (I'd remember THAT). Heck, the only voice that I ever heard that was even remotely like this was… wait, now that I think about it; it's very much like—AH! Holy crap, it's—

"YOU!"

**~Yes. Me~**

It's the freaking Voice!!! The freaking Voice that I thought (and still think) was just me going insane isn't in my head any longer and is here and huge and here and not in my head and REALLY, REALLY big and has huge teeth and it's HERE! Wait, it said before that it's a fox… HOLY CRAP THAT'S A REALLY BIG FOX!

Wait, did he/she just call me an idiot? And how did it know about that? AH! This thing probably knows how to get out of here then! ESCAPE! FREEDOM!

"How the hell do you get out of here?" I demanded, moving closer to the giant bars (though not close enough that the Voice could get at me). "And who are you? How did you get into my head before?"

~Ah, I see that you recognise my voice at least… and you'll be able to get out of here in due time. For the mean time, stay a while. I haven't had company in so long, and in any case, we needed to have a talk eventually, you and I ~

The fox's features moved down slightly and I got the sense that he/she was settling his/herself down.

"What the hell? Tell me how to get out of here! I need to get back!"

**~or what? Time works differently in here. What may feel like days in here would be only a few hours outside. And what would you do if I don't tell you? Look, kit, there's no harm in having a little chat with me. So why don't you stay for a bit huh? ~**

"who the hell ARE you?" if the Voice isn't just something my subconscious brought up, then it must be _someone_… and though it's okay for a fox in my head to be labelled 'Voice' a fox in real life, even one as huge as this one, has more than just a voice.

**~Ooh, an interesting question. Well, though it would be easier to just tell you, where would be the fun in that. Here's a hint: there's only ONE giant fox. Ever. You know about that one giant fox, from your history books. Now then, who am I? ~**

Stupid fox, stupid history, and stupid me for getting into this stupid situation! Argh! Okay, only one giant fox in existence and this baka is it. There has only ever been one giant fox, and he/she says that he/she is it. Well, the only giant fox I know of is dead… but this fox says he/she is the only one since ever, if that makes any sense…. Wait… doesn't that mean that—

"Kyuubi? You're the Kyuubi?"

**~Good job. Yes, I am the Kyuubi, but you can call me Kyu for short. 3~**

"Kyuubi. YOU are the Kyuubi."

**~Yep~**

"And you want me to call you Kyu"

**~Yep. Can we move on from this already?~**

"What the hell? The Fourth killed you! How the hell are you here?" unless I'm dead too, and that means that this is hell and I'm going to be put in a cell just like this one and I'm going to be stuck with this stupid fox for the rest of my death until whenever perople get out of hell but I don't think they do so I'll be stuck here! ARGH!

**~well obviously I'm not. Dead that is. Really kit, I figured that much would be obvious. And before you even ask HOW I survived, I really can't be killed by one human. I can, though, be sealed by a human. ~**

"What do you mean? Where are we? If you got sealed, then what did you get sealed into, and why am I in here?" I didn't know much about sealing, but to seal something, or someone in this case, you had to have something to seal it into. Did I get sealed too?!

I sat down in a relatively dry patch of floor. This was probably going to be a long explanation. Besides, I've been walking around for kami knows how long, and while I wasn't particularly tiered, it would probably be a good idea to sit in any case.

The fox's features moved closer to the cage, moving out from the shadows. Its deep red fur gleamed as it gave a foxy grin (can a fox grin any other way?), looking pleased with my questions.

**~how about I explain everything, huh? Let's make a deal. I'll explain everything, but you have to be quiet through it~ **

Well that sounded fair, but the fox said something about us needing to talk about something earlier, and I doubt that it was about it's sealing…

"What else are you going to explain, other than how you're alive but sealed rather than dead?"

**~good questions. Hmm… well I'll explain how I got here, where here exactly is, and some other things that I think would make more sense after the other two explanations. Do we have a deal? I explain and you don't interrupt? ~**

"Pfft, how about this, you explain and in between subjects I get to ask questions. THEN we have a deal." As if I would be able to not say anything. The fox sighed, the gust of air ruffling my red-tipped locks.

**~hmm, I guess that's okay… well we have a deal then. Okay, explanation for how I got here. Well, when I attacked the Leaf village, for a reason you don't need to know, the one who you call the fourth rose to fight me after the rest of your so called fighting force failed. Though it was a fun fight, and I was winning regardless of the fact that the fourth brought in the amphibian to the fight, he eventually brought out a sealing jutsu. He made some pact with some spirit or something and sealed me in return for his soul. Isn't that romantic, sacrificing himself for your little village. Anyway, he had to seal me into something, but it couldn't be just anything. It had to have the chakra to hold me, and it couldn't be easily breakable. What would the point of sacrificing himself be if I could be released if someone broke the container? Anyway, he had to seal me into a newborn. An adult would have died, his or her chakra coils burning themselves up with the introduction of my own more potent demonic chakra, and a newborn's coils would be undeveloped enough to be able to adapt to my chakra. So, he sealed me and died, intending for the child to be brought up as a hero, holding me back from destroying the village every day, but instead the child was, from the limited amount that I can tell from the past few days, treated like a monster~ **

At this, the fox tilted its furred head to the side and regarded me with a bland expression, a startling expression to see on a giant fox. What it was saying was prickling a few things in my mind.

**~just in case you aren't picking up on this, that newborn was you.~**

It took me a few seconds for the words to have any meaning.

"W-what?"

**~you can't tell me that you never wondered why the villagers treated you like the village pariah. They probably thought that you were a human version of me or some other such nonsense. Really, they aren't too smart. They remember what my power is like, and they should realise that I would have killed them for treating you like they do, yet they seem stuck with the idea that, although you haven't done anything to them, not even giving any threats to them, that you're really me. Seriously, it's like they're mice trying to pick on a collared cat! You, my dear kit, may be a collar, but that doesn't mean that I'm any less powerful! ~**

"You're saying that YOU got sealed into ME? B-but how?"

**~Yes, and like I said, by that fourth guy using some sealing technique~**

With this, thousands of questions were answered. Why did the villagers hate me? Why didn't I have parents? Why didn't anyone adopt me? Simple, all because I had the stupid fox sealed into me. No one wanted the demon container to be around, the fourth wouldn't want to burden a family with the demon child, so he found an orphan. No one would want to adopt the demon child.

But no, the fourth wouldn't think like that… maybe my mom died at my birth or something, maybe my dad died in the fight. He needed a newborn baby, and I was there… great, does that mean that if I was born a little later, I would have avoided this mess? Agh! Well…

Wait a second… that means that what Mizuki-sensei said was true? Well, at the time I believed it, but I guess I kinda forgot… no, not forgot, but pushed it to the back of my mind, since it's wasn't exactly a pleasant though, not that it's any pleasanter NOW than it was then… it's really hard to believe that something that I only half believed is actually true… it's like catching the toothy fairy or something… not that I ever REALLY believed in that thing or anything, but…

"Well I guess there's no use crying over this… I guess there's no way to seal you into something else?"

**~Nope. And I'm surprised, I figured that you'd be spazzing about this for a few hours—not that I'm complaining or anything, of course, but still, I expected something to implode or something at LEAST~**

"If there's no way to change it, why complain? It's a waste of time in any case… what's that saying? 'Don't cry over spilled Ramen?'"

**~it's 'don't cry over spilled milk' and I guess that makes sense… for a weak human, you're pretty smart~**

Why would you cry over spilled milk? And this fur-ball really finds its ways to add in how great it is compared to me… for a big fluff ball, it sure does think its tough…

"Whatever… so what's your next explanation, oh great and powerful fur-ball?"

To my irritation, the fur-ball only looked a little offended by the name, looking equally pleased about it if anything. Stupid fox.

**~okay, next explanation: where we are! Though from the other explanation, I would have thought that it would have been obvious. We are in your mindscape. This is the portion of your mind that I was sealed into. I'm guessing that you wandered around your mind a little before now…~**

"Wait, wait, wait… you're telling me that this dump is my MIND?"

**~you said it, not me… but if it makes you feel any better, your mind is under a heck of a lot more strain with me sealed into you than anyone else's is. And the fact that this place looks like a sewer is probably lent to the fact that your subconscious at least sensed me here. And really, if you could think up an appropriate dungeon for a demon, would you cage the horrible beast in a field, or in a dank sewer?~**

Well, I guess that makes sense…

"Is there any way to change it? I mean, if we're stuck with each other, we BOTH might as well be comfortable… and I don't know about you, but I would much rather not walk around in my MIND and see a sewer. And what was with those creepy tunnels?"

**~there is, in fact, a way, but that can wait for a different time. As for the 'creep tunnels', the one to the left--~ **

"Tunnel A, the blue one" I supplied.

**~ Sure, okay, whatever. So Tunnel A, as you call it, is your memories. The tunnel on the right… what did you call this one, before you interrupt?~**

"Tunnel C, the red one" the fox gave another fox grin.

**~right. Well that one is MY memories. I'd really rather you didn't go down there without my permission… if you do now, your head will probably explode from the millennia of memories… there's some powerful stuff in there, you know. Anyway, if I feel like you need to see a memory, I can now just bring it up and show it to you.~**

"What about Tunnel B? If it's not my memories, which it is, by the way, and it's not yours…"

**~well, what I told you about the first tunnel wasn't entirely true… that one is your memories up to when your delightful eyes… 'Woke up'~**

That means that that's an entirely new section, all because of my crappy bloodline? Well that's stupid…

**~Now what else was there that we needed to talk about… hmm…~**

The fox's head tilted up and to the side, its wiskers twitching slightly.

**~oh, yeah, next up on the agenda is what you humans call a bloodline. Well, the explanation is about YOUR bloodline specifically, seeing as how all the other bloodlines aren't nearly as great as the one I gave to you, but—~**

"Wait! That YOU gave to me? YOU are the reason why I have this stupid bloodline?"

**~Stupid? It's not STUPID, it's Brilliant! You weren't helping me out in the least, so when I had my chance on the bridge I took it!~**

"How the hell is me having a pervy bloodline helping YOU out? And I knew it! The freaking bridge…"

**~it's helping me out by taking the edge off being celibate for all of YOUR LIFE. And where else would it have happened? I had to totally remake your structure to be able to deal with all that I want. You should be THANKING me, ungrateful brat~**

"What the hell? If you didn't want to be cut off from your escapades, you shouldn't have attacked the village, ero-fox!"

**~don't call me that! I'm the great Kyuubi! I can destroy you at any—~**

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever you say you pervy-fox! Now what the hell did you do to my body?!"

**~why should I tell an ungrateful brat like you? I just made you the perfect male specimen and you're complaining about it!~**

"Hah! All you did was give me the ultimately perverted eyes and give me a different hair colour! How the hell would that be considered the perfect male specimen?"

Kyu gave me an infuriatingly superior look.

**~I didn't just change your hair, nor did I just give you those special eyes of yours. I remodelled your entire body! Your bones are stronger and I made them hollow so more white blood cells can be produced. I condensed your muscle and changed your skeleton slightly, meaning that you'll be both more flexible and have more power, AND it means that your body can take a heck of a lot more abuse. You have even more stamina than you had before, ~ **

At this, Kyuubi gave me a decidedly wicked grin (only a fraction of difference between it and its other grins).

**~ I also made it so that your brain can hold more information for longer, as well as… enhancing other parts of you… make that stamina of yours work on everything…~** insert pervy fox grin No. 573.

Is that… no way, I must be imagining the darker red around the fox's cheeks. It's a trick of the shadows, there's NO way that this giant perv is blushing. But no, even in the limited light, the insides of the fox's ears had darkened in colour from their previous light pink to a decidedly darker colour.

"The hell!? What the hell does any of that have to do with anything? Why the hell did you do this anyway? There's no way that I'm going to go around having sex all the time… I'm going to be Hokage, so I have to train!"

**~yeah, right. I never said anything about you having to have sex ALL the time, and why can't you be a little perverted? Please? For me? c'mon, you can't be THAT against it, being the creator of the sexy jutsu and everything…~**

"I made that up because more than four fifths of the male population are total perverts! It made escape a hell of a lot easier if I just used the jutsu and knocked them out with a nosebleed!"

**~yeah, well now you can poke someone and knock them out with a nosebleed, and now you don't have to use chakra at all if you don't want to! How great is that? In any case, I'm not taking it back. It took a lot of time to get your genetics just right for your eyes to work like they do. I only managed to kick everything in gear just before this stupid cage brought me back here! Even if time goes slower in here than outside, I was still rushed for time! ~**

"What, exactly, did you do?! And why can I hear you in my head? I couldn't do that before, damn fox"

**~well, aside from all the magnificent upgrades to your body, as well as giving you your wonderful new bloodline, I just made a bit more of a pathway between us… you know, I haven't eaten anything for as long as you've lived? I don't remember what a steak tastes like, let alone what it smells like… oh, smells, how I've missed smells… and being able to see things! I've been able to taste and smell and see and hear all the things that you have since I fixed your body! It's wonderful! But I have to tell you kid, if you ever want to grow any more, you should add something more to your diet than ramen. I managed to reverse some of that malnutrition and give you a more normal height, but I'm not going to blow up your body every few years just so that you can eat unhealthy amounts of ramen and stay a normal height. As it is, you're never going to be the tallest person, but I'd rather my container not be a midget. ~**

"What's wrong with Ramen? It's healthy! You have meat, unless you get vegetarian, grain, vegetables… and I drink milk myself!"

**~yeah, that's another thing. You aren't supposed to be able to chew milk, kit. That's just not healthy! And what if you're on a mission and your stomach decides to rebel? How professional… oh, sorry, the soon to be Hokage can't come for a mission right now… he's on the toilet. ~**

I had to wince at that… but it isn't my fault if I don't always have the time to go out and get groceries…

**~in any case, there's no way to change your body back to the way it was, not that I would if I could because this body is much better than your old one, and what was it that you said before? Something about how it didn't make sense to spaz about something that you can't change. Something about not crying over spilled mi—ramen? ~ **

"Well… whatever! Just don't do anything else like that! That was painful!"

**~aw, what a wuss! You only had your body re-made~**

"Okay, how about this… YOU have our body explode, THEN try to tell me with a straight face that it doesn't hurt"

**~I'm the great Kyuubi, kit, I don't NEED to remake my already perfect body~**

"Sure you're perfect. Perfectly arrogant! Damn fox."

**~Oh you wound me kit. Too bad we can't continue this conversation, at least not face to face. You need to wake up now. And don't mistake my words… this all happened, but you need to get up from the ground. Here's a tip for next time you decide to trace that seal on your stomach… do it on a bed! ~**

The room was starting to get darker around the edges, and the fox's strange maybe male maybe female voice was gaining an echo.

"W-wait! What the hell am I supposed to tell them!?"

~well, you should tell that teacher of yours the truth… it's your choice whether or not you want to explain to your little friends about me… have fun! ~

"AGH! Stupid Fox!" the rest of the room faded to black, and I felt the floor drop from underneath me, echoes of the damn fox's chuckles fading in the blackness.

"..Ke up soon?"

This wasn't in the least like waking up. I was just… well, not sleeping, and not knocked out, but I just wasn't awake, and then I was.

"Maybe. Wait, he's moving... Naruto? You okay?"

A gloved hand lightly shook my shoulder, and I took stock of the situation. I was on a soft thing (a bed probably), and I could feel a number of people around me. Just by their scents, I could tell it was the rest of team 7 as well as Zabuza and Haku. Slitting my eyes open, I let my eyes get used to the light, getting up gingerly, expecting some sort of pain for some reason. All the times that I've woken with people around my bed, there was always some sort of pain. Thankfully, there was only a slight pain in my tailbone, probably from when I fell… hell, does that mean that that stupid conversation with that stupid fox was real? Fuck.

Arms wrapped around my shoulders from the side, and I felt a slight flush move its way up my face. !!! Her arms removed themselves form me with a final squeeze, then I felt pain blossom at the back of my head.

"OW! What the hell did you do that for? You don't just hug someone then punch them!"

"You idiot! You made me so worried! Baka! What the hell was with that!?"

"Hey, YOU two were the ones who got me to do it! Why are you blaming me for?"

"Baka! Don't try to blame it on us! And what's with you caving to peer pressure?"

"What happened, exactly?" asked Kakashi, cutting me off before I could reply to the unfair verbal attack, his calm, borderline lazy voice a sharp contrast to the shouting match between Sakura and I.

How the hell am I going to explain this? Frigging hell… hmm…

"Sakura and Sasuke-teme wre asking if I had spots on me, and what they did. I checked, and I had a purple thing on my stomach, and I was curious, so I traced it. Then I got… knocked out. Had a strange DREAM and everything…" I gave Kakashi-sensei a pointed look.

"There was this giant fox thing, and it was in this gigantic cage! Freaked me out at first, but then told me all this bazaar stuff… don't REMEMBER even half of it though, hehe" I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly, giving Kakashi-sensei another look.

"Hn, dobe, only you'd get scared of a fox in a cage."

"stupid Teme, it wasn't just ANY fox, it was a gigantic fox! You's be freaked out too if you had those kind of chompers grinning at you! its teeth were bigger than I am!"

"Dobe that isn't that har—" I grinned when the teme cut himself off, my eyes narrowing with glee.

"yeah, no more height jokes, eh teme?" turns out, we're the same height now, so the stupid teme couldn't bug me about my vertically challengedness. Heck, I couldn't wait till the guys from class see me! no more size jokes! The thought brought a smile to my face, at least until I realised that along with my height, they'd also see… everything else. The hair, the eyes… everything. It wouldn't be long until they heard, from me or from rumours, that I had a bloodline, and if it got out WHAT it is… oh man… Fuck.

"I think I need a bit more of an explanation Naruto," Kakashi sent the rest of the group from the room, claiming that he also had to help me figure out how I was going to explain my new bloodline to the Hokage. Zabuza muttered, but complied, Haku following after him with a wave. Sakura and Sasuke gave me a look, but left also.

After explaining to Kakashi exactly what happened with the fox, glossing over exactly what memories I experienced as well as the fact that the third tunnel was the fox's memories (he'd probably want me to check them out, regardless of Kyuubi's warning), he sat back with a sigh, running a gloved hand over his face.

"Well you do get yourself into surprising situations, don't you… well, I guess you already know all about it now… so why don't we talk about that later… when there's less of a chance of someone else hearing about this. Oh, don't worry," he reassured me, his visible eye curving into a smile, "no one heard that, but next time you should be more observant. I sealed the room, so no one heard a thing you said.

Now then, we really do need to figure out how you're going to… introduce your oh-so-special bloodline to the council. A demonstration would probably help, though—"

"Ah, no! I'm not going to get those old bastards horny! EW!" I felt a gag coming on, blood draining from my face at the thought. Nasty, NASTY thought.

Kakashi sighed, looking a little pale himself. "no, I meant a demonstration on an enemy nin. Not once did the thought of you demonstrating on THEM cross my mind. They'd probably accuse you of trying to seduce them to the dark side or something…" both laughed at this. (Lol, come over to the dark side… we have cookies and candy and t-shirts that say we have cookies and candy)

"Anyway, I'm going to leave what you say to you, but here's some things yoou should focus on. You should tell them what it does, but play it down at first... we don't want to get them worried now do we."

As if I could play it dwn any more than it actually is...how freaking serious will they take me? 'oh, hello... you already know me, yeah the demon kid... oh, yeah, and just a heads up, I got a crappy bloodline... yeah, I can make someone get knocked out with just one poke! Of course it's with a nose bleed and the guy will have one hell of a boner when he gets up, but still...' sure, great.

"you should also make it's use known almost immediately. They'll pobably discuss things, then 'ask' you to demonstrate." Kakashi gave me a look that said that that would be more of a demand than a request. "You'll be brought to the interrogation complex where you'll probably meet Ibiki Morino. After that, you'll be on your own and you'll have to prove taht you can get information out of enemy ninja with your bloodline."

"who's this Ibiki Morino guy?" hah! Remembered the guys name and everything!

"he's the head of the torture and interrogations department... he, depending his impression of you as well as depending on his mood, will be the one to show you to the nin you'll be interrogating."

Great... maybe if he doesn't recognise me, I won't be stuck with some tough mute nin... well maybe...

"do I get any information on the nin? Like what they want to find out from the guy, where they found him... that sort of thing?"

Kakashi looked pleased with my questins.

"if you aren't given them,you can always ask. I don't know much about the departmet, but I'm pretty sure that they have files on all the nin that they've had there... I think that they make the folder up immediately, adding more information about the nin as it becomes... available." So in other words, Kakashi knows that they have files on all the fucks that end up in there, and I'll have to ask if I want to see any of it on the guy I'm going to interrogate. Great.

The door opened then, Sasuke and Sakura walking in.

"I think we should be helping out with this... I mean, if Naruto has to go through with this, we should support him, right Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"besides, Naruto isn't the best at organisation, so we have to help him out! If Naruto gets sent to another team, I know it won't be because I didn't help him!"

Though I felt happy that Sakura wanted to help (if a little annoyed that she still didn't think my organisation skills were great... didn't she see the list?!), I couldn't help but think that being removed from the team wouldn't be the worst thing to happen.

Soon enough, I had an idea of how I was going to make my bloodline look... well, not exactly great, but I at least knew how to make it look like it isn't totally useless. Sakura made me run through what I was going to say over and over again, with only small comments in between each repetition before she questioned me again. It only stopped when I interrupted myself with a big jaw-cracking yawn and a complaint about being exhausted.

"only a dobe like you would be tiered after that long of a nap... you were out for 3 hours dobe."

I gaped at him. No one had told me how long I was out for, but it wasn't any lighter than it was when I started the talk with my two team-mates, so I figured it wouldn't have been that long... Kyu said that time was slower in my... what'd it call it again? Mindscape, that's it, so it said it was slower, and I was in there for a heck of a long time... reagrdless, the stupid teme doesn't have to bug me about it... not like HE has to deal with seeing spots all the time... even if I don't see them right now, the stupid fox made my memory better so I remember where all the stupid spots ARE!!

I glared at him, letting a bit of violet creep into my eyes, the teme retaliating by letting his own eyes go red.

"so, um, what is the sleeping arrangement?" sakura asked, breaking the stareing showdown Sas-teme and I were having.

It was a good question, since the rom only came with two beds and a couch... if the chairs didn't have arms, we could have probably pushed them together, but since they don't...

"Zabuza and I can split one of the beds, or maybe the couch" haku commented in his softly girish voice. They hadn't stopped keeping watch in turns... I guess it was a really hard habit to break when you were a missing and hunted nin for a couple of years... I wnder exactly how long they've been hiding for... sure, Zabuza killed all the other kids in his year, but that was the graduation ceremony, as creepy as that was. And Haku'd been on the run from first his family, then he was trying to survive, and then he met Zabuza and they were together since then, as far as I can figure. That was a long time to be on the lookout, and I wondered if I would be able to handle something like that in my present state.

Part of me wanted to boast, to say that I could deal with being on the lookout day and night, and to be able to stand strong against an unknown amount of hunter-nin, never backing down and staying three steps ahead of them. But the rest (a rather larger part of me), said that right now, if hunter-nin were after me, they'd probably catch me the moment I got too tiered and took a nap. And that would be exactly what would happen... I'd probably exhaust myself, wasting time setting traps that the hunter-nin would probably never even come close to, only delaying myself while they got closer. I'd exhaust myself with paranoia, and would eventually get tiered and delusional enough to try the espionage/spy tactics from movies, getting a trenchcoat, dark sunglasses and one of those cool detective hats, fedora's I think they're called.

I had to smile at that last thought though, the mental image of everyone looking at me while I'm in all that bulky clothing in the height of summer. No, I wouldn't last a week against hunter-nin at the level I'm at right now. Heh, maybe I'd get lucky, and I would be able to embarras ONE Nin with a nosebleed before they knocked me out and dragged me back to Konoha.

"you two can take the bed, I'll claim the couch if you don't mind... I like having a window to help me wake up, thanks" said Kakashi-sensei, giving one of his eye-smiles and running his fingers through his gravity-defying grey-silver locks, doing nothing to tame the mass.

That left the last bed to either be shared by the rest of us. I felt my cheeks flush slightly, and a slighttightening in my chest at the thught of sharing the relatively large bed with my long-time crush.

While Sasuke looked bored, Sakura looked a little uncomfortable, her eyes glancing at the bed, only to dart between the teme and I before moving back to the bed and re-starting the cycle. I guess she's a little freaked about having to share a bed with two guys, especially with her (regretful) crush. That teme really gets on my nerves, and he didn't even do anything to earn it right now!

"Anyone want to claim a side?" I asked, a grin plastered on my face. Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku moved to the other room, apparently deciding on staying up a bit longer, even though it was well into the night. (A/n: I realise that if my timeline is correst, it's about 1 or 2 in the morning, so it really IS late, especially for ppl who are getting up early in the morning. If, to you, that isn't that late, then you're obviously used to lacking sleep. I am not.)I don't know what Haku and Zabuza are planning on doing, but Kakashi-sensei's probably going to read that pervy book of his... how a book of that heavenly a colour could be that pervy, I will never know. As it is, any orange book that I see in any book-store or library always gives me shivers. Suffice to say, it's on my 'Never-Gonna-Read-It-Ever-Ever-EVER' list.

"hn." Sasuke grabbed his stuff and put it on the left side of the bed, the side closest to the door.

"okay, so did you want to be in the middle, or on the right side Sakura?" she's probably going to go for the middle, so she can be near the stupid teme, though if shes still so uncertain, maybe she'll go for the end so that she can escape, or else she's too shy... I doubt the shyness though... if Sakura is shy, then I'm Barney the stupid purple dinosaur (stupid because he has TWO teeth, one on top, and one on the bottom, and he plays with children instead of eating them like any other self-respecting dinosaur would do... stupid.).

"I'll take the other side, if you don't mind," she said, to my surprise. "I'm just going to go get changed" and she headed for the door, probably heading to the washroom.

Having already done my business as well asalready brusing my teeth (they felt funny when I 'woke' up, okay?), I dug through my bag for the worn t-shirt that I used for my night-shirt. I'd used it when I was little, and I'd grown into it sonce then (in other words, it fit me now and it no longer went past my knees). Hopefully, Sakura had spared it during her (hopefully) temporary pyromaniac insanity, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when I found it, stuffed into one of the inside pockets. I grabbed a pair of boxers, another of the silky ones that I got from tht lady at the store though this pair was a navy blue rather than black, and closed the door. Sasuke was already getting changed, having already changed his shirt to a white baggy tank top and was unravveling the bandages from his legs, rolling them up neatly.

I pulled off the shirt that they put on me and slid on my wonderful shirt. Though it was a little more than a little tatty, with some places being more thread worn than others (I made note that some places may need patches soon), it was insanely comfortable. All the rougher parts worn smooth, hard edges of the fabric softened. It was wonderful, and if Sakura had burned it, I don't know if I could keep civil to her... oh shit! Did she--?

I rushed to my bag, rummaging through it for my most treasured sleep-wear, the only thing that topped my shirt in comfort.

Oh, good... she didn't burn my cap either! Awesome!

I rubbed my face against the soft fabric, setting it down once I was done. I pulled down the boxers that they put me in after a quick check to make sure the door was still closed, and shimmied into the silky smooth boxers. I thought I heard a choking sound, but when I looked, Sasuke was turned away and pulling on his uchiha fan print flannel pants and the door still hadn't been opened. It figures that the teme wouldn't even want to go to sleep without his oh so precious fan somewhere on his person... seriously, does he have ANYTHING that doesn't have the Uchiha clan symbol on it... better question still, would he ever wear an outfit that DOESN'T have the freaking red and white fan on it given the choice? I don't think so... even if he did, he'd probably wear boxers that had the picture on them somewhere... heh, maybe he'd even get a tatoo of it if he couldn't WEAR it...

The thought sent me intto a fit of laughs, ignoring Sasuke's glance towards me, and I finished packing my stuff away. "Hey teme, do you ever... NOT wear that symbol?"

He raised his eyebrow at me. "Why should I?"

That sent me into another fit, and I saw him flush slightly. Not wanting to have to sleep next to a grumpy Uchiha, I slung my arm around his shoulders, still laughing slightly as I gave him a squeeze.

"Aw, don't get all moody on me Sasuke. I'm only teasing!" he turned is head away from me and I gave him another squeeze.

"C'mon, I just can't imagin always wearing something that has a family symbol on it. I think it'd give a heck of a lot of family pressure, heh," not that I'd know about family pressure or anything...

"Hn, I'd like to see you wear the Uchiha fan once and not want to wear it constantly after that."

"ooh, sounds like a challenge," I said, grinning at him. "Maybe I'll take you up on that later... heck, I'm only one colour away from wearing your family's colours, all I need is some red and a fan, hehehe" I gestured at my white shirt and navy boxers with my free arm, sharing a grin with the teme under my arm. He gave me a smirk in return.

"you've been warned... I'll tell my tailor to be ready to add a fan to your clothes." He tapped the back of my head lightly, a glint in his eyes only slightly different from the one I knew to be in mine.

I shifted my grip into a headlock with a laugh, a playfight ensuing as Sasuke slipped from my grip and grappled with me. "oh, so cocky teme. Whatever, then you'll have to try NOT wearing the fan when I am wearing it, you'll have to buy more clothes so you don't have to have all your clothes remade without the fan! Hah-oof"

We tppled to the ground, wrestling to be on top and I heard the door open as well as a gasp from Sakura as we rolled on the ground.

"H-hey Sakura!" I panted, dropping my head back to give her an upsidedown grin from my temporsry position of below Sasuke.

"What are you two doing? Already fighting!" she rushed forward, her pink fluffy pajamas making her a pink blur as I heaved Sasuke onto his back, rolling with him.

"It's all in good OOHF!" we had rolled all the way to the wall, and sasuke had the good luck of not being rolled into said wall.

"Yup, all in good fun, like Naruto says." Sasuke said, pulling himself up and (shock of all shockers) offering me a hand up from my slump on the floor. Tthe hit didn't particularily hurt, but it knocked the breath from me.

I let him help me up with a grin, letting it widen at the thunderstruck look Sakura was giving the two of us.

"W...wha... no, who...?" she seemed at a loss of words, looking between us like we'd knocked a few screws loose. It was surprisingly normal, considering if I was looking at the teme and I acting like this, I would be giving the same look. The teme was acting differently... acting downright friendly from his usual anti-social emo tendencies. And I haven't yelled at him once in the past five minutes! It was definately out of character, so, as to not make Sakura think we were brainwashed or imposters, I gave a sideways glance at Sasuke and said "aw, it's nothing sakura... the teme just realised how much more of a man I am than he is." I shoved him lightly, and darted my eyes between him and sakura at the ook he gave me.

"hn, dobe, is that why I could so easily pin you?" he apparently caught on, so our (temporary) truce was intact for the night. Sakura gave us a relieved look, commenting about how it was too late for this and that we should head to bed.

We got into the double bed, a comfortable distance between us as we got ourselves comfortable, Sasuke and Sakura on their sides facing away, and me laying on my back. The breathing in the room evened out, andthere was a relaxed atmosphere in the room. Great.

Now I don't have to worry about getting a kunai in the back during the night from Sasuke.

Now all I have to worry about is a punch in the morning if I shift too much towards Sakura in the night.

TBC

So that's it till next chapter, which i hope to get out soon (am working on it right now). sorry if any of it was confusing, and i will answer any questions you have, if only you **_review_** me the questions, or **_PM_** me them, K? oh, and **DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR PAIRINGS**! i have the options on my _profile page,_ so vote if you want the Naruto pairings to be yaoi, hetero, any kind of mix, or if you want him to be asexual.

CHOOSE OR HE WLL SUFFER AS A LONELY BOY!

P.s. this is unbeta'd as of yet!

thank you, ciao!

~Doodled93~


	9. Chapter 9 Snuggles and WHo Books

I'M SO SORRY! I was experiencing a major case of mental block/writers block! No excuse, but still! I'm horrible, working on that Death Note fanfic, and now I'm also working on another Naruto fanfiction (coming soon :P), I'm such a bad updater!

I've just been working to much on other things... I've been having idea's bouncing around in my head for a bunch of different fanfics, one or two for KHR, the Death Note one as well as another for the same anime... it's horrible, and I don't know how other authors can stand having like 20 different stories on the go!

so, I'm terrinbly sorry, and I hope that you still remember it...

SORRY!

The rules of the (*#)'s is that if it's there, you don't have to scroll down... you can, but i'll be repeating what i typed and then giving the explanation.... so yeah.

Chapter 9 - Snuggles and wishful hitting of books

Consciousness was niggling at my sleep fogged mind, pulling away half remembered dreams to replace them with reality.

Not wanting to get up quite yet, though my internal damned alarm clock was ringing for me to get up, I snuggled into the warmth surrounding my, nuzzling the softness under my cheek. Arms tightened around me, allowing me to be further surrounded by warmth. I couldn't remember the last time I woke up this warm and comfortable. I stretched my legs as much as I could, feeling the legs tangling through them shift and intertwine again after I was done. (…?)

It was kind of funny that my internal damned alarm clock was going off because I knew that it was at least a half hour before it would usually go off, so I wondered why it was going off now… arms pulled me back more, and I clutched the warm thing I had my arms around closer to me as I was pulled more firmly against the more solid warm thing behind me (…?!). Worry was starting to squirm its way up from the bottom of my stomach, though it took it a little longer for my still sleep fogged mind to catch up with it. The warm thing I had my arms around wiggled a bit, and I felt a hand (!) From one of the warm shapes (!!) shift and rub (!!!) my stomach (!!!!... wow, that feels ni—!!!!!!?!?!?!?????!!!).

My eyes popped open so fast that I was temporarily distracted by the unexpected pain in my eyelids, only to be filled with a vision of pink. Confusion, then dawning apprehension filled my thoughts. Sakura was wearing pink flannel pyjama's… wasn't she? Ah fuck…

Craning my head a little, I was relieved (and slightly disappointed) to find that the warm thing that I currently had my arms around (very, very comfortable) was Sakura's midsection. The mixed feelings of relief (I don't have to worry about her finding me with my face in her chest!) and panic (ohmigod she's going to wake up to find me with my arms around her and is going to beat me uuup!) was a strangely interesting combination, though I wish it would go away… I bet it would go away if I didn't have to worry about her waking to me having my arms around her… Yeah! A plan!

I pushed myself slightly backwards with my elbows, shimmying my arms from their place under her back and rolling slightly so that I wasn't half on her, but my plans were foiled my the other warm thing.

The other warm thing that happened to wrap its arms around me more firmly, snuggling me closer into what I now identified as a firm chest.

… If Sakura was in front of me (and moving closer to me, filling the generous gap that I'd put between us {inconsiderate to my consideration to her!}) and in my arms, then… Ah fuck.

My head flopped back down, a small noise of complaint came from a still snoozing Sakura as the action made my head flop into her ribs, and I groaned out a breath. Sasuke.

Fucking Sasuke's behind me… go to sleep with two other people and this is what you get… the most awkward snuggle-fest in the history of whenever.

This is so screwed up… I have the love of my life in front of me and my rival/enemy at my back… while it's true that it's great that Sakura's in my arms, the saying 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer' is just going too damn far!

I peeked down at the hand still travelling up and down my stomach, paling myself at the paleness of it, but with some hope still, even though I was pretty sure that Sakura's hands were up by her head, I followed the hand to a wrist, up a forearm, and craning my head more, up an upper arm connecting to Sasuke's shirt-clad body.

Ah, fuck.

Fuck.

Good word for this situation…

FuckFuckFUCKfuckFUCKfuckFuck…

Five minutes later I was still dealing with two way-more-than-necessary affectionate team-mates trapping me between them. I didn't want to wake them (nor Haku nor get Zabuza and Kakashi in here to laugh at my plight) so I tried to be as gentle (and silent) as possible while trying to get out from the tangle of limbs.

But no matter how I tried to squirm from them, they seemed to want to keep their death grip on me. Though in any case I was severely restrained in my ways to escape. Aside from not being able to be loud or rough with my two anaconda-like team-mates, there was still the issue of one of them waking up in the middle of my squirming.

Sakura was my main concern. Sakura was being held from the front, and I could therefore be accused of initiating the cuddling, whereas since Sasuke was the one holding me from behind, I could yell at him all I wanted and have the bigger argument. Well, that, and I could deal with a fight with the teme. Sakura on the other hand, had one hell of a punch, and unlike Sasuke, I wasn't quite as willing to hit back.

There was also the concern with if she woke up while I was escaping as well as the direction that I could escape to.

If I tried to squeeze myself upwards, she could wake up when my face is in front of her… chest, or face, and she could hit me for being an un(kinda)willing pervert. That was no good.

If I scooted downward in my escape, she could wake up with my face being in front of her… hips, and she would hit me. That was no good.

Also, with that plan, Sasuke would also probably catch me and I don't want to be caught face-to-crotch in that situation… I wouldn't have quite the advantage in that situation if I wanted to be able to escape from humiliation.

It seemed that (from that little review I had in my mind) trying to escape by going upwards had less of a risk, though it had two of her risk spots rather than the one (at least from her) from below.

Though I had to wonder if I could escape both at the same time or if it made more sense to do it one at a time. Escaping Sakura first would be the most logical course to take, seeing as there would be less of a risk of her pummelling me… though there was still the probability that she'd punch me if she woke to see the teme and I snu--… well, in a compromising position.

So maybe it would be a good idea to get away from Sakura first, THEN the bastard.

Peeking at the clock on the wall, I mentally started counting down the 18 minutes I had till my two team-mates would likely wake up, getting myself ready for one of the trickiest escapes I've ever had to pull off thus far.

Moving forward, I partially squished Sakura, just enough to be a little uncomfortable and get her to back off a bit. We were in the middle of the bed, and I needed a little more room at one end to get out of this. Every inch I moved forward, Sakura would inch back, and the stupid Sas-teme followed me.

I'd inch.

Sakura would inch…

And just about at the same time, Sasuke would try to pull me back to him, instead pulling himself forward when I clutched the side of the bed.

When she was at where she was at the beginning of the night, I detangled her arms from around me, and, trying to ignore the stupid ass hand that was still freaking rubbing my belly (!!!!); I turned her so that her back was facing me, putting my arms around her again. That took about 4 minutes total to do, so I had 14 minutes left.

Darting backwards as quickly as my position would allow, I pushed the combined weight of Sasuke and I to the opposite side of the bed.

She turned over again, and a questing hand was _this_ close to snagging on my boxers, but I managed to squeeze myself back to the now not budging Sasuke.

Breathing out a sigh, I then turned my attention to the dumb ass that was now the sole object of my ire… not that I'd ever be TOO irritated at Sakura, but still.

Sasuke was snuggled up against my back, one of his arms being used as a pillow for him, the other holding me still to him, his breathing slow and steady in sleep.

Now then, this might be a bit difficult, but at least he isn't as cuddle-inclined as Sakura seemed to be.

Delicately scootching my way onto my back, I tried inching my way from under him, but as soon as my arm stopped making contact with his side, the arm that was once slack on my side was clutching me closer.

Cursing softly under my breath, I tried to figure out a way to get the stupid bastard off of me.

Another attempt gave the same results, so I tried sliding down the bed.

My wonderful shirt slid up my stomach with the movement, but I got a fair distance down...

At least until the bastard threw his leg over one of mine, effectively trapping me in my position. Now, instead of having my face in front of Sakura's stomach, I was just above Sasuke's instead.

Glaring at the ribs to my left, I didn't appreciate the hand that made its way through my hair, effectively _petting_ me. Fucking bastard… screwing up everything…

Lost in my internal ramblings, I only hardly noticed the teme pulling me back up to his level, though I snapped from those musings pretty quickly when I felt him drape himself on top of me, pinning my arms to my sides, my leg trapped between his own, and his face being buried in that space between my neck and my shoulder, his cold nose making me gasp (not squeak… I did--do NOT squeak) as it leeched warmth from my sensitive skin.

You know what? Screw this. There's no way that he can try to say that this was my fault, so screw this.

"Wake UP!"

He made a sound and just burrowed deeper into my neck. Screw this. Taking a deep breath, I tried nudging Sakura awake with my free foot, though she ignored me, only making a small noise of complaint at the jostling she got from my cold foot. Fuck this fucking screwy situation. I'm tired, and squished, and I want to get up NOW!

"WAKE UP YOU FUCKING TEME!"

The jerk jerked away from my loud voice in his ear, giving me a tired glare and a mumbled 'what?'

I didn't say anything, only huffing angrily and making exaggerated eye connections by looking down at the arms pinning me, then back up at the stupid dumb-ass teme on top of me again.

A look of dawning comprehension graced his face and I had to wonder about that supposed 'genius' status of his. Really, a GENIUS not noticing that he's ON TOP of SOMEONE!?

I gave an almighty shove against his still prone body, and he lurched to the side, falling over the side of the bed with a bit of satisfying arm waving, his hands clutching at the bedspread as he felt the less than solid air beneath his body.

I grinned at the glower I received once he sat back up. Ha ha ha, bastard.

Sakura was starting to wake up, so, instead of feeling her wrath once she saw the situation (I could practically hear her: 'why'd you push Sasuke off of the bed, baka?!? **punch**'), I bolted for the door, my foot tangling in the sheets slightly, but I managed to reach the door after a bit of hopping.

Giving a quick glance to the room, I saw that Sakura was stretching lightly, sitting up in bed, Sasuke was still glowering at me, and Haku was giving me a slight smile.

Oh well, at least if Haku did see, he wouldn't go telling everyone and teasing me too badly about it… though I don't know whether or not he'd tell Zabuza, but I forced my mind towards happier thoughts.

Like answering the calls of nature.

* * *

I was thinking of ending the chapter there, but I decided that you guys deserve more than 3 pages of story. 'Cause I'm a sucky updater... SORRY!

* * *

I walked into the main room after taking my time in the washroom (give the teme a chance to cool down a bit), seeing Kakashi and Zabuza and Haku there. Haku must've gotten out here in the admittedly long time I was in the washroom—I stayed in there 'till Sakura started complaining!— and he gave me a smile and a small wave that I hesitantly returned. I didn't quite like that extra gleam in his eyes, nor that extra (sinister?) tilt to his smile, but it didn't seem as if he'd told Zabuza, so I let I slide.

**~Not that you'd have done anything but flail your arms around and be loud if he had told them... heh, making it sound as if you'd have hurt him for talking...~** the fox chuckled in my head.

Scowling inwardly (a skill that I didn't know I had) at both the reminder that the damned fox is in my body as well as what the damned fox said, I attempted blocking the man-woman voice from my head. _Out, out damned spot! Out, stain on my sub consciousness!_ Sadly, the voice was only slightly muffled, allowing me to hear the chuckle from the fox.

Kakashi had a big smile on his face, beaming with happiness. How could Naruto tell that he was smiling? Well, the outline from his grin showed through his mask as well as his visible eye curved into a sharp arc, not to mention the sparkles and little flowers that were, strangely enough, floating around his head.

_What the...??Maybe a genjutsu...?_

There was a big box right next to him sealed with packing tape and covered with various stickers, warnings and cautions for people moving the box was what I figured them to be, but the font was too small for me to read, even with my new eyesight.

Apparently my questioning look (as well as me asking "what's that?") was enough to get him started, letting him say whatever it was that had him so excited. I couldn't help but admit that his excitement was a bit contagious, and my own was climbing steadily with every word he uttered next.

"This, Naruto, is something for your training. You, my dear, dear student, get the pleasure of reading a series made by one of the most powerful men of all the villages. This series has helped me out in many missions, so I'm going to have you promise me one thing before I hand these over." He said this with the utmost seriousness, and I nodded solemnly... well, as solemnly as I could, bouncing slightly with the build up of curiosity and anticipation. I vaguely heard my team-mates walk into the room. They probably heard what Kakashi-sensei had said earlier, so they were probably just as curious as I was_... hah! Teme, I get special books for training and you don't! Nyah nyah na na nyah!_

**~oh, how mature~**

_Shut up!_

"You have to promise me that you'll read at least ten of the books before your probable interrogation test." He had a glint in his eyes that told of some hidden motive, said glint would have fit nicely with that extra tilt to Haku's smile that I'd noticed earlier, but my head was dancing with images of cool fireball techniques (never mind that that's the teme's type of attack), earthquakes, and super awesome flashy moves, so I didn't make anything of it.

"Dobe, you shouldn't—" aha! The teme is trying to get all the techniques for himself!

"I promise!"

Kakashi gave an eye smile, and gestured for me to open the wonderful box of wonders.

Diving towards it, I ignored Sasuke's sigh (of JEALOUSY!) and the grumble from Sakura (she did that a lot in any case), I slid one of my oddly sharp nails along the tape, ignoring how it ripped the cardboard some, and flipped open the top of the oh so wonder...fuck.

"What is it Naruto?"

Though there was a numbness that seemed to be seeping through my body, I could feel Sakura come over, looking into the fucking box filled with the friggin' last books that I expected to see.

She gave a small gasp and then---

"OUCH! Why the hell did you do that for??"

Why the hell was she hitting ME for? Kakashi was the one who went out and BOUGHT all this stuff!

"Naruto! You pervert!" Sasuke had wandered over, and gave a snort at the contents of the dumbass box. Stupid fucking books.

The worst part of that was that they actually _were_ **fucking** books...

Stupid Kakashi and his obsession with those orange books... his obsession is leaking into his job, and that's just not healthy...

... Well, neither is being a ninja, but when you mix the two, it's twice as unhealthy! Yeah...

I turned to Kakashi and gave him a flat look.

"You promised."

"You... LIAR!"

"You promised."

"You made it sound as if it was ninja techniques!"

"It is full of techniques... And you promised."

"Not THAT kind of techniques! I'm not going to--"

"You promised... What ever happened to that ninja way of yours?" His single visible eye gleamed evilly.

I glowered back, torn. On the one hand, I never go back on my word... and on the other, if I go by that, I have to read Kakashi's dirty novels, and have to deal with every pervert-sensitive female beating me up for reading it out in the open... and I'm not going to be accused of being a closet pervert for reading them in secrecy...

"B-but, but it was just—and YOU—the books—"

"You. Promised." Kakashi sat back onto the couch, an air of satisfaction around him, right along with those little flowers and sparkly things.

I gave him another flat look, and a sigh. I feel like I'm doing that a lot lately...

"You aren't going to read that bunch of smut are you Naruto?" an incensed Sakura asked/demanded, hands (fists actually) on hips.

I looked between my team mates, at Sakura's glower and Sasuke's challenging smirk... ooh that just did it! He'd probably do it, the teme, and I'm not dealing with _that_! No sireee!

I stood up abruptly, giving a scowl to all of the rooms' occupants, particularly to a chortling Zabuza, and an obviously smirking sensei, and with a shout of 'FINE!' I made my exit to the room to get changed.

There was a set of clothes already out (no doubt Sakura's doing, being so adamant about how I dressed—my poor clothes!), and pulled them on angrily, pulling my fingers through my shaggy locks, securing my forehead protector in place and flipping my hair from my face(damn bangs, getting in my face). Doing a small check in the mirror (everyone does it, including me) to make sure that nothing was hanging loose, I gave an overview of what I had thrown on without much thought.

...meh, I don't really care, so out the door! All I care is that I have pants, shirt, and sweater shirt over that, and, most importantly, I'm not NAKED! (*1)

Walking out of the rooms' open door (oops, should have closed that when I was getting changed... whatever), I gave a glare to Kakashi and snatched up my bag.

The evil box full of evilness was already packed away, so I didn't have to deal with the thing (though I also couldn't 'accidentally' destroy it...), but that small relief was short lived when Kakashi handed me a small, thick, orange book with one of his eye smiles.

"This is the first book of the series, and you'll be able to tell which it is in a series by this mark here," he pointed to a little number '1' at the top of the spine, "and don't forget, it's ten books, not nine, or five, or any other number ranging from 2-9 that you PROMISED to read." Here he gave another eye smile. Great, he hasn't taught us crap for months, and when talking about his pervy book, he becomes Mr. Encyclopaedia, all informative and all...

**sigh** Well, even though this stupid fucking book is on my 'Never-Gonna-Read-It-Ever-Ever-EVER' list, apparently mental promises don't count for crap... great, there were already so few things in that NGRIEEE list, and now an entire section of it is gone...

"Yeah, yeah, I know already. I said I'd read ten of the stupid books before the probable test thingy, and I will. I PROMISED, as you seem intent on reminding me... yeesh, hardly a few hours into sunrise, and you're already poking and prodding..."

"Nope, that's your ability, brat!" I sent Zabuza a glare and that just sent him into a roaring laugh.

Kakashi brought out a scroll and wrote some symbols on it. Watching curiously as he walked to the box of doom, he set the scroll down, made a hand seal, and with a small *poof* the evil box was gone! YAAY! Oh—wait—that's...

"That's a storage scroll, right?"

"Yes. You can buy these at supply stores, though you can also make your own if you learn how..."

Cool, that's something that I gotta get Kakashi to teach me! He owes me, tricking me into reading TEN whole books of this smut...

I clenched the orange-bound volume in my hands, resisting the urge to test my sharp nails on it... resist... resisting... maybe...

Everyone grabbed their stuff (wow, Kakashi has a bunch of those scrolls on his belt... so do Zabuza and Haku...), and we headed out of the hotel, checking out at the front register, and out into the village.

It was good t be heading home, even if I have to read smut to get ready to be tested by a bunch of old geezers who hate me for no other reason than because of the fox sealed into me (not by my choice), who also will be out for my banishment/execution should they learn that my 'bloodline' is actually due to influence from the fox, something that they're all scared out of their minds of...

Great.

Just another day in the life of one Uzumaki Naruto, soon to be Hokage, Top Prankster of Konoha, and the Most Surprising Ninja of Konoha. (*2)

TBC

* * *

I feel horrible ending it there, but I reqire sleep, and I told myself that I'd update already, sooo...

also, I need help/suggestions:

(*1)= All I care is that I have pants, shirt, and sweater shirt over that, and, most importantly, I'm not NAKED!= I need help with the clothes! I know that the general clothing I want, bit the exactness is bad... I know that I'm probably going to go for a fishnet, semi-transparent shirt (drool), baggy pants with bandaging & pouches, and a jacke-type shirt... cargo boots, maybe... So realise that colour schemes are welsome, as well as any other possible outfits!

and

(*2)= I know that's a crappy as hell ending, but lack of sleep also means a certain lack of talent... endings and beginning are my weak points, and I'm amazed at the beginnings I've been pushing out so far...

Reviews are welcome, as well as suggestions and such to anything...

Don't forget to give input! unless I'm satisfied with how the outfit is (which will be the main outfit), then I can't get past this part (yes, *gasp* she's got some of it done already? yeah, but I can't get past this part without the outfit... I can't stand just keeping blanks..)

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE! And review please

~Doodled93~


	10. Chapter 10 Foxykun and, Um Yeah

HEY! An update! Yeah! How friggin awesome! I'm so happy that I got this done in time! Read the last bit at the end of this to understand what I mean, 'cause I'm not re-writing it all. Anyway, please enjoy this 14 page update (Yeah!) and just so those who also want to know, I'm also updating 'The Model Muse' today…

Enjoy and review!

Chapter 10 – Foxy-kun and, Um… Yeah

Crouched in a bush, I contemplated whether or not this would be a good situation to 'accidentally' lose the orange book currently tucked in my belt.

It would be a valid excuse, losing it when I'm being hunted like this, forced to use a surprising amount of my ninja skillz, as well as most of my prankster hiding techniques, most of which I only ever used when faced with Iruka-sensei or the more skilled members of the ANBU. Kakashi should be proud at this point, I doubt he's ever had to deal with something like this…

But then again, Kakashi would probably make me go back for the damn book…

Bastard… whatever, I'll just—no dammit, I made a promise! Grrrgh! I'll read the ten, and have fun burning the rest. After all, I didn't buy them for me, HE bought them for me.

Bwahaha… okay, evil plan ready for later. Now back to the situation at hand…

Okay now the exit is—oop!

A group of girls walked past, glancing around and calling for 'foxy-kun'…and... Ok, now they're past…

Right, okay, so where the hell did they get the idea of calling me 'foxy-kun'?

**~Right, I wonder where… hehehe~**

"Shut up…"

**~Really, you shouldn't be taking it too hard… c'mon, whisker like marks on your cheeks, a foxy grin, fluffy fur-like hair… at least they aren't calling you 'kitty-kun'~**

Ouch, now THAT would be a blow to the ego…

**~I'm not really surprised… I mean, walking out into public looking like you do with clothes like these, what would you expect the female populace to do?~**

"What the fuck're you talking about?" I demanded, keeping my voice as low as possible as I crept from my bush to another secure hiding place.

**~You don't have to speak for me to hear you… just… direct your thoughts at me, and I'll hear them… as it is, I'm hearing a great deal of your thoughts without you meaning for it…~**

_That was disturbing… I wonder which thoughts…_

**~A couple of them, that's all~**

And above my sputters (that almost got me caught, if it weren't for a substitution with a cat), the damn fox chuckled.

**~Well let me replay what happened this morning… you got up, escaped the cuddle of doom, made a promise without knowing all the details, got changed and didn't notice how good you look, and you left the hotel after planning on destroying those wonderful books… then~**

—yes it's a flashback—

Stupid ass books, as if I'm gonna start reading it here. I'll wait till I get on the road… less females there, and the only one to worry about is Sakura… but she wouldn't start hitting me right? Not when this is pretty much a project, and assignment or whatever for me? Right?

Right.

We left the hotel, the old man at the counter giving me a weird look.

Maybe because I was wearing a lot of orange yesterday, and my clothes didn't fit… and now they do, so maybe he was thinking that that was how I usually dressed? Bah, couldn't he tell that a top notch ninja like me could only wear the best? Stupid old man…

Heading out into the street, Sakura glaring at the orange book stuck in the back of my belt all the while, I felt a strange chilly feeling. It made the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end, and as we walked, the sensation continued. After a while, it felt as if all of my hair was standing on end. You know there's an issue when it feels as though your pubes are trying to escape. It was not a pleasant feeling either…

Glancing over my shoulder for the millionth time, searching for something out of the usual, I scrubbed my fingers through my hair, hoping that maybe the feeling would just go away. But no, there were the usual amount of Sasuke fangirls (dumb girls, the lot of them), all staring at our group, and no suspicious figures anywhere to account for the staring-holes-into-back feeling.

Friggin annoying! What the hell?

There was a high pitched squeaking noise, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a girl fall over blood covering her front. It seemed familiar, like I'd seen something like it before… but wait a sec, that's only ever happened to guys!

The thought that maybe girls were just as big perverts as guys was baffling, and lasted me all the way until we could see the gate that lead out of the village. And by that time, the only way that I could see it being possible was that maybe all girls had some intense training as children that made them better at hiding it than the male species.

I couldn't help but sigh at that conclusion, ignoring the look that it got from Sasuke. It was a heck of a lot easier to think that they had some ability to control and hide it that male perverts didn't have. I looked up at the sky, vaguely noting that a cloud looked a little like a bowl of ramen, and when I looked back to the trail ahead, I nearly tripped.

We were totally surrounded.

And not by ninja, but the amount of steely determination that was showing in their eyes showed that they would be just as—or more so—resolute to accomplish their mission… whatever that mission might be…

But that was found out after a few minutes of tense staring, the Teme actually having a scared look on his face that, under different circumstances, would have had me laughing my ass off… but it wasn't a different situation. But seriously, it was surprising how menacing a horde of females surrounding you could be.

"Umm… hi?"

That was apparently the wrong thing for me to say, for they all gave off a mighty battle cry/squeal and rushed at me. _I didn't DO anything! I swear!_

Years and years of pranking experience set in before any comprehension of the situation did (proof that pranks were a vital part of life and that Iruka-sensei was just being unreasonable), and I was sprinting away to the nearest non-civilian-accessible-space I could find, which happened to be a third-floor balcony, but quickly changed to hanging from a clothes line two stories higher, to blending in with a fence, and then to hiding under a rock.

The last got uncomfortable after a while, even if they couldn't find him, so that rock was exchanged for a bush. He was now on his fifth bush.

It was annoying, to put it simply.

Wow that was short flashback…

**~You know, you probably won't be hurt if you just come out of hiding… at least, not in the way that you're thinking of getting hurt~** He could practically see the smirk on the fox's face.

_And why, oh great and mighty, all knowing furrball, would they not hurt me?_

**~You're too cute to hurt~**

He ignored all comments after that, instead wondering how he'd be able to escape. After a moment of digging through his bag, he came out with a headset that they'd used when they were after that stupid ass cat Tora. Hopefully Kakashi will have it somewhere close.

Keeping his voice low, he turned on the little device.

"Perv? You there?"

A crackly sigh came over the headset.

"_I wish you wouldn't call me that. Are you alright?"_

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm hiding in a bush." If it wasn't such a dire situation, Naruto would have felt a little bit more embarrassed than he was admitting that. "You?" he heard him chuckle.

"_Oh, we're fine. Only a few came after Sasuke after you ran off, and Sakura soon took care of them. We're waiting by the gate… What's your position?"_ Sasuke letting someone else fight for him? And why didn't they go after them? I rattled off my approximate position in regards to the gate, and a thought struck me.

"Hey, you think if I make a bunch of clones, they'd be distracted and leave me alone? Then I could wait a minute and transform myself or something, and walk away?" it sounded like a sound plan… hey, what if he…

"_That sounds like it might work. Whoever you turn into, I suggest you lose the whisker marks though"_ hmm… or maybe not… but I'll try it anyway.

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute… head to the gates and I'll get through to you… see you I a bit then."

"_Naruto, don't…"_

"Don't what?" maybe he'll give some sagely bit of advice or something… doubt it though…

"_Lose the book." _Knew it.

"Fuck you, you dirty pervert."

Hands formed into the right seals, Naruto made about fifty clones, keeping one with him. It was a somewhat normal sight to him now, but it really felt weird not seeing a large mass of orange clad clones, and instead seeing… well… hardly any orange at all.

Glancing at the clone crouched next to me; I surveyed the outfit that Sakura had put together for me. I guess it wasn't totally horrible, though I admit that it could just be because I'm not used to it that's making me think it wasn't alright. Dark cargo pants, mainly in various shades of dark grey, dark green, and navy, with some hints of a silvery material, with no particular pattern to them. I guess that that's there because if you stand in a shadow wearing black, you don't really blend in… you just make a human shaped shadow.

Naruto had taped the pants thighs for his holster, and had taped about a hand lengths distance of the pants at the ankle. They had strings to pull tight, but it had looked a little strange, so he taped it.

A belt went around his waist, obviously, and a cloned copy of that fucking orange book was tucked into the back of it, so I took it and started ripping up the pages to pass the time. A dark red jacket that could be zipped and buttoned up to the end of its folded collar sat on top of a black t-shirt. All of the t-shirts he got were as tight as or tighter than this one, something that he was just getting used to and the red jacket had a darkish orange lining, blue edging the sleeves and a blue spiral similar to the one on his jumpsuit was on the back. It also had a hood, which he was wearing up at the moment. There were a couple of jackets similar to this one with various lengths to the sleeves. This one had sleeves slightly longer than the t-shirts sleeves, allowing the fishnet ¾ shirt sleeve show on his bicep. He also got these wicked wrist bands. They were black, but had lead sewn into them, making them heavy, but Kakashi said that it would make a good block (like the metal plates on his gloves) as well as help work out his arms. (*1)

Naruto didn't see what the big deal was. They were clothes. Big friggin whoop.

_I don't understand you, stupid fox…_

**~You're just too naïve to… don't worry though, soon enough I will teach you all there is to know, and then maybe you won't be such a dumbass… and aren't the rest of your team waiting or something?~**

Naruto quickly made hand seals, and the clone next to him turned into a tamer version of the sexy jutsu, transforming himself into something that wouldn't look amiss around an apparently cute girl like his clone was. They waited for another minute, and a blond girl stood up from the bush, hair loose down her back wearing a pale blue summer dress, a fluffy fox in her arms. The fox was laughing in his head.

**~AHAHAHAHAHA—~**

_Just stop it already; it was the first thing that I could think of. I'm not going to turn into a cat because of that damn cat we always have to catch, and I'm not going to turn into a mutt. I might start thinking like Kiba. _

**~HAAAHAHHAHAHA! Ooh, whatever you say, **_**Foxy-kun**_

I couldn't help but grumble under my breath about stupid ass demons and they're skewed sense of humour. Channeling some chakra into my eyes, changing them from blue to purple, I wondered if a fox having purple eyes would be any less suspiscious than a fox having blue eyes. Do some foxes have blue eyes? Maybe, but if I keep my blue eyes, they might realize that I'm the fox… or the fox is me… whatever…

Soon enough, Kakashi, Sakura and the Teme were in sight. I could practically cry from relief, but since they weren't there yet, I didn't go running towards them and out of the insane town. I made my clone look around some, like 'she' was just as crazy as the other females. Almost home free!

**~Not quite yet…~**

A small group of females were standing in his path. Thankfully, they only gave a glance to him, and were focusing themselves totally on his clone.

The tall one in the middle, who seemed to be their leader, spoke up first.

"Who are you?" she demanded. Oh shit, a name?

"U-um, N..aru…" apparently his clone was having about as much luck as he was figuring out a name. Why the hell is it so hard to think of these things on the spot? I could have made up a dozen different female names on the spot any other time, but when he actually needed to—

"When did you get here?" what the hell did that have to do with anything? Now how to get out of here… hmm…

His clone smiled, a flush creeping up 'her' cheeks. Distracted, I didn't check the clones answer.

"I got here around the time Naruto did." Maybe—Fuck!

The boss girl glanced at her sharply."Naruto? Is that Foxy-kun's name?" the clone nodded enthusiastically. If they were going to make mistakes like that then they might as well make it seem as if it was on purpose. But while the other girls with her giggled and whispered about whatever, the boss girl was looking at my clone with narrowed eyes.

Something was connecting, so I collected my legs underneath me, cocked my ears, closed my eyes and, for all appearances in my fuzzy form, fell asleep. Obviously I didn't, but…

"And how did you find out about _Naru_to's name, _Naru_?" that made it connect for the other girls, and they surrounded me and my now nervous clone. Heck—I was feelng pretty damn nervous too. What if my plan didn't work? The Boss Girl placed her hands on her hips in an eerily familiar way, almost as endearing as when Sakura did it. It was like Sakura just before she was going to say something that would get her what she wanted.

**~Yes, and that would be YOU**~ I felt a flush rise in my cheeks at that, and an odd fluttery feeling down in the pit of my stomache. It was a feeling like being nervous, but a bit better for some reason.

**~Aah, now you're starting to get into the swing of things~** irritation squished the feeling somewhat, andd I focused back on the conversation. The Boss girl was speaking again.

"Funny. I seem to recall Naruto-chibi wearing a leaf headband… isn't one of the things that ninja are famous for, aside from clones, transformation?" one of the other girls made a sound of agreement, the other girls following her example after a moment of thought. _Naruto-chibi? What the hell?_ Now the fluttering feelin was totally anniahlated, though it made a valiant attempt to stay from her last comment before irritation at exactly what she called me sunk in.

"Well from the show earlier, he can definitely clone, so am I right in assuming that it wouldn't be a stretch to guess that he can also transform _Naru_?"

That seemed to decide the other girls, and they all lunged at the clone, a mighty battle cry alerting the other females of their 'catch'.

I jumped from the arms of my clone, pretending to bite 'her' hand and dashed away as my clone poofed into an actual clone of me. I figured that I would need an excuse as to why I'd bite me, and being a startled animal seemed valid enough. Aside from drawing attention to the 'me' over there, hiding my escape, it would also give that apparent 'pet' that I was acting as an excuse of sorts. Where's the pet? Oh, well, he got startled and ran off, oh well…

I dashed around a building, taking a longer, less direct rout to the rest of Team 7, and jumped in to Haku's arms when I was close enough. I would have jumped into Sakura's arms if I didn't think that I would have been hit once she realised who I was, and there was no way that I'd jump into the Teme's arms. If Haku was startled at a violet eyed fox jumping into his arms, he didn't show it. I panted hard. It was less from the run and more from an intense fear of what would happen to me. My other clones had poofed out of existence, and somehow I got an impressin from them of what had happened. Amongst the gristly visions of being glomped and smothered to 'death' by boobs, a near permanent smell of perfume and sweat stuck in my nose, I wondered how I was knowing this, as well as how that tingly not-quite-nervous nervous feeling managed to come back. There was also a bit of heat in my pants, but a vision of a particularily violent glomp, paired with an unattractive geyzer of blood made that go away. (*2)

"Let's go already, before they catch my clone and poof it out of existence!" after a moment, in which everyone blinked at the red-orange fox, the two adults laughed, Haku smiled, Sasuke scoffed and Sakura squealed. Naruto wondered why he was stuck with all these weirdo's. Happily enough, they got moving, and as soon as they were outside the gates, I jumped out of Haku's arms, transforming back. He'd been weird, petting me and shifting me so that Sakura could be weird and pet me too. Both made me feel awkward, with those butterflies coming to life in my stomach, and I just wanted the situation to be over with. Sadly, it wasn't.

Once we got to the main road, Kakashi put his hand on my shoulder, a serious look on his face. I haad a feeling about what he was going to say, but I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. Is it kind of redundant that I doubt the benefit of the doubt? Whatever…

"Naruto?" I felt a flat look settle on my face, and pulled out the orange book from the back of my belt, ignoring the instant glare it produced from Sakura. Benefit of the doubt or no, I would not give him the satisfaction of making me freak out at him. He must take some sick joy out of it…

He blinked when it was shoved in front of his face, and eyesmiled.

"Good, that deals with one thing…" _I KNEW IT YOU BASTARD!_ But I didn't let that show on my face. I think. Though it felt kind of like there was a twitch in my eyebrow…

"…the other connects to what happened back there. You do know why they were acting like that right?"

I kept the flat look on my face. "I didn't do anything if that's what you're implying…"

**~Hah! You know what he's talking about, and you know what happened! Don't play dumb kid… you know that that happened because of the smoking new body that I gave you.~**

_Dirty old fox. Well aren't you proud…._

**~Of course I'm proud! You're practically a work of art! Do you realise how long it took me to get it **_**just**_** right? ~**

_Well, going by what Kakashi-sensei said, it all went down in a couple of minutes._

**~Uh-uh, it took way longer than that! The time and effort I took into consideration for your new body exceeds any of my expectations! You didn't know about me for how friggin long? There wasn't any conversation, so I had to have something to do.~**

_So you fantasized over what my body could be since I started walking, and when the opportunity presented itself, you just…_

**~Went for it? Yeah. Pretty much. And once we get to that leaf pile you call a village, you'll find out exactly how awesome this new 'bloodline' is. Then you'll be on your hands and knees in here thanking me, praising me, calling me the supre—~** after that point, I just tuned him out. From his tone, it seemed like he'd be continuing on that note for a while.

"No, I'm not implying that… and from the look on your face, you know that… "

Frig "…" Kakashi sighed.

"Well, I think that it'd be best if you covered your face when we get to Konoha… just for a little while…" what the hell? Would that be considered an insult?

"Kakashi-sensei, why do you think that Naruto needs to cover his face? I think he looks fine…"

How shocking. Sakura even said that with a straight face… the fluttering feeling came back. It was starting to get a little irritating…

It was Zabuza who answered her. He's such a quiet guy for the most part… surprising…

"Heh, look at it this way; I cover my face because for some strange reason, people get scared easily by my face…" Haku giggled, and somehow it didn't make him seem like a total girl (*3) "…and because it filters poisonous gasses and other such things to a degree. I don't know why the monkey over there does it, but I can tell you that the reactions the kid got from the girls here are going to be the same in Konoha."

Sakura looked doubtful. "You don't know Konoha very well…" I laughed. Her doubt in that was an understatement.

"Yeah, I'm pretty much the village pariah. Kakashi-sensei, I'm thinking that you're over estimating this."

He just eye smiled and pulled a bit of black cloth from somewhere, holding it out to me. "You don't have to wear the mask part all the time, but just try untill we get to the Hokage, ne?" I was still doubtful, and a glance at my team-mates told me nothing new. Sakura looked as unsure as I was (though she also had a bit of a flush in her face… maybe embarrased that something had to be explained? –Begone fluttery feeling!), and the Teme looked completely and utterly disinterested, his mind apparently on other things more of interest to his emo mind of supreme emo-ness.

I sighed.

"…Fine… but only untill we get to the Hokage…"

Holding the piece of cloth up, I saw that it was a mask like Kakashi had, so it was only a case of wearing it than of wrapping up my face like Zabuza did. Well I'd have to wear it in either case, but whatever. It looked kind of weird, with part of it looking like it was taken from a shirt, and the rest like a screwed up verion of a turtle neck. (*4)

"How the hell do you put this thing on?" Kakashi instructed me to take off my shirt and put it on as if it were an actual shirt. I did (ignoring the choking sound coming from my team-mates), putting my arms through their respective holes (frigging hell, this better be the front…) and pulling my head through the remaining hole. It felt weird.

Like, really, really weird.

The material in front of the nose and mouth was thin enough (or maybe it was just the material) that it wasn't that different breathing, but it still felt weird. I felt like maybe I should be pulling my shirt down. The fact that I wasn't currently wearing a shirt was smething that I remembered after a convenient breeze went by, making the hair on my arms raise and raising gooseflesh all over me. Brr…

I shoved on my clothing as I had that morning (how long ago was it?), the fishnet shirt, the normal shirt, and the jacket, and turned to look at Kakashi.

"Well? Is it on right?" holy hell we can't get to the Hokage soon enough…

"Looks like you got it on al right…" right… something occurred to me them.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei? How am I going to get into Konoha? I don't look anything like my ID now, and the people who are set at the gates are usually really good at figuring out if someone's transformed themselves or not."

"Dobe, how would you know that?" 'Che, as if I'd tell him anything… he's been quiet pretty much all moring, and what does he say? Yeah, he insults me… fucking bastard… he must have seen that I wasn't going to say anything, and he glared.

"Narut here has tried to sneak past the guards at the gate numerous times when he was younger. Nearly did I too, if you're previous sensei Iruka hadn't caught him…" what the hell?

"I read all of your files when I was first assigned to you as your genin instructor" Kakashi said, by way of explanation. Well wasn't that a little creepy, if sort of understandable.

"And as to what's going to happen, you're going to transform into your previous self, and if there are any questions asked, I will deal with them. We go straight to the Hokage's office, and we'll continue on from there, kay?"

They headed down the path after that, with little small talk. Soon enough, the gates to Konoha were visible, and with a poof, I was back to my shorter, entirely normal self.

Even though I wasn't actually back into my orange jumpsuit, it still felt like a homecoming to just look out of the corner of my eye and see the wonderful colour that is orange… well, it brought warmth to my heart and a tear to my eye, it was just so beautiful.

_I am never letting Sakura near my clothes. What if she burns the rest of my jumpsuits?_

The guard at the gate gave me a weird look, but when Kakashi shook his head, he let us past. It's amazing what you can get away with when you're an elite jounin. It must have something to do with (probably) being able to pull other people's intestines out of their noses or something of the sort.

Walking towards Konoha shouldn't have felt different. But it did. No one looked at me the same way as they usually did (though they did look at the mask weirdly), and for some strange reason it made my eyes all tingly as if I was using my eyes. Looking around at the villagers, I realised that they were looking siker than usual, with strange spots… holy crap.

I was using my eyes! Fuckfuckfuck.

I tried cutting off my chakra, but there wasn't anything to cut. I wasn't sending chakra to my eyes, yet I was seeing spots. Nervous panic was winding up inside of me, a tight feeling just behind my ribs, and I couldn't help but tug at Kakashi's sleeve.

"I can't turn it off" I whispered furiously to him. He kept walking, but turned slightly to look at me.

"Turn what—oh… well why did you use it?"

"I _didn't_… it just went on, on it's frikking own! No help from me whatsoever! And I can't cut the chakra flow—I can't even feel a chakra flow!" what if this becomes permanent? I don't want to be walking around with purple eyes! The closest things I've ever seen to purple eyes are from that girl Hinata, and her eyes are so pale it almost looks like she's blind! It's actually pretty on her, but she gets it from her whole friggin family! What the hell, what the hell, what the hell!

He must have read the paic in my (Purple!) eyes, because he stopped and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Calm down. Whatever is happening, we'll figure it out in the Hokage's office." Apparently that's the only thing on his mind right now…I wonder why the fox isn't saying anything…

* * *

Sarutobi felt that he'd be able to deal with anything that Naruto came back with, having dealt with him and his pranks for all of his life, so when Team seven came through the door along with one Missing Nin, and two strangers, sans Naruto, he puled his chakra to a minimal degree to sense him out. He could feel that he was in the room, but he felt different, and he couldn't pinpoint exactly where he was. The stranger with the rather startling violet eyes stepped forward, and Sarutobi noticed that it was with the same brashness towards his authority that Naruto had.

He found out why a moment later.

"Old man, we have a problem. Like a big one. Like so massive of a problem that you couldn't even begin to imagine it, it's so huge." He ranted in Naruto's voice—almost. The tone was a little lower than Naruto's and it had a husky rumble to it straight out of Icha Icha.

The connection between Naruto and the orage covered series was baffling, and something in his mind urged him to move on and never revisit that particular connection.

So he looked to Kakashi.

"Yes that's Naruto, and yes there's a problem. Naruto, calm down already. You're just wasting time."

Sarutobi was shocked momentarily, even as the newly labelled Naruto whirled to Kakashi. "I know that, and of course he recognises me," at this Naruto turned back to Sarutobi, and took in his expression, his own donning shock above the mask.

"No way, you didn't recognise me?" he pulled down his hood and mask and Sarutobi felt some tense part inside of him relax somewhat. The face was familiar, if a little older looking.

His round face had thinned out, giving him an older look, the whisker marks on his cheeks darkened to a more prominent mark. His hair was longer than it was befre he'd left on the mission, more so than it would have been under different circumstances (whatever those were), taming the spikes somewhat, and the blond hair at his scalp darkened gradually to ornge, to red, all the way to an almost black colour at the tips. He still wore his leaf headband (previously covered by his hood) on his forehead, and it pushed back his bangs to a degree, keeping them from looking messy. Instead he just looked scruffy I a way that Sarutobi had observed as 'stylish' nowadays. He'd changed his clothing too, and it looked like decent gear.

"Aha, see, you DO recognise me!" Naruto yelled.

Sarutobi sighed.

He may have changed on the outside, but on the inside, he's still the same old Naruto.

"Kakashi, I think you should explain this to me in detail, and then we'll be going to the hospital. But first, Sasuke, Sakura, please leave."

"Hokage-sama, we should be here. We can help with the explanation!" Sakura exclaimed. Sasuke just had a quietly angry expression frozen to his face.

"Yeah, why do they have to leave? They're my team-mates!"

"Naruto, you know that part of this explanation will include a certain furred secret…" Kakashi started to remind him. Sarutobi paled slightly as his fear was confirmed.

"Sensei?" asked Sakura, looking confused as she glanced around at the occupants of the room. Naruto was silent for a moment as he thought things over, looking at the rest of team 7.

"I don't care anyway… they should know. They are my team-mates after all, and they should know. If they hate me afterwards for it, then we'll figure somethig out. Besides, if we get this out of the way now, it means that there'll not be a chance of this coming back to bite me in the ass later. I don't really want to have trust—or a lack of it—thrown in my face, just because of… well, this…"

By this time, both Sakura and Sasuke were looking confused.

"Secret? What secret?"

"Naruto, as long as you realise the full consequences, know what might happen... then it is alright. The law states that no one besides you can tell this to anyone, and if you give permission for them to know, then there won't be any poitical reprocussins." Naruto nodded. It was apparently what he expected.

"Sensei, what are they talking about? What secret?"

"Sakura, Sasuke, I'm going to have to as you to hold your questions untill after I've talked to the Hokage… you may stay, but do not interrupt unless it's to include something relevant."

Kakashi started the explanation, giving a brief background explanation to wht happened before the fight on the bridge, and ending with when they got to the gates of Konoha. Sakura and Sasuke were silent through most of the talk, though they did add in parts from their perspective. They went pale when Naruto explained what happened in his mind, as Kakashi had told him to tell it himself, but they still didn't ask anythiing. Naruto took heart from that, though he didn't let it show… nor did he let his hopes to get too high.

The higher they were the harder they'd hit the ground after all…

They were still silent after the explanation was done, staring at Naruto with disblief and shock. He nervously scratched the back of his head, and tried to look as non-aggressive as possible. It was Sasuke who broke out of their little trance first.

"You mean… you… but…"

"Yeah, Kyuubi wasn't destroyed that day… instead, he was sealed into me… isn't that just grand?"

There was a thump as Sakura fainted, and Sasuke continued to stare, his eyes getting wider every second.

**~Oh, great job with that one~**

_Greeat…_

_Fuck._

TBC

* * *

**(*1)-Outfit**- just in case you just skipped over it, here's a quicker version of what his new clothes consist of;

Pants are smudged dark grey, dark green and dark blue with some silvery bits. He has on a black t-shirt, and a ¾ sleeve fishnet shirt on. He has a dark red jacket (short sleeved) with dark blue lining the sleeves, a spiral in the same shade of blue on his back, and the inside lining of it is a dark orange colour. The jacket also has a hood.

The pants have that white tape stuff in the same place as he usually has it, as well as for about a hands length at around his ankles. He has black wristbands with lead sewn into it for weight training and is currently wearing his normal sandals (that may change later)

**(*2) –** you don't have to really read this, but a reviewer pointed out that apparently his horomones were broken, or else he was gay from the beginning, so I'm including this. I don't think I'm terribly good at writing romance at the moment. Also, just because I'm getting tired of replying this: Yes there's going to be some Yaoi, and yes there's going to be some Hetero. Probably more Hetero than yaoi, if only because I know more about it. There'll probably be more mention of the yaoi pairings though, but that's just because those situations are just too funny! :3

**(*3) – Somehow it didn't make him sound like a total girl**—please don't think that I'm sexist. It just seemed like the kind of theing that he'd think… I'm a girl and I've thought that a couple of times when my guy friends do something like that. Most of the time they do sound like girls, but sometimes they don't. It's great that they don't read any of my stuff or I would be getting some strongly worded reviews :D ((P.S. if you guys do read this, I swear I was talking about the other guys, not you personally—I swear! :P))

**(*4) – the mask**—okay, I don't know what the hell it's actually like, but I figure that unless the bottom of the mask was held down by something, by your arms or maybe by some whacky version of suspenders, it would get all buched up at the neck with all the moving. Since Kakashi's mask thing doesn't bunch up, and he doesn't look like a susenders kind of guy… this is what I came up with. I'm not entirely certain, but I think I have seen him/pic of him sans shirt but with the mask thing on, and that could be where I'm getting this from. If you know of a good pic, or want to describe what it actually looks like, review, and I'll fix my mistake, k?

Okay, sorry fo rthe crappy little (ish… it's 14 pages…) chapter, I was packing and studying and all that stupid ass crap…

I won't be here from June 28th to August 18th, since I'm going to a summer job (McCreights Dam)… Isn't it just awesome that I get paid to go camping? Yeah, but there isn't any internet access in the bush, sooo…

Yeah, no updates for 2 months (or so). Sucks? Yes. Very much so…

So please review lots!

~Doodled93~


	11. Chapter 11 Oh, fun

Hey, finally an update, eh? I know, I suck.

ahem.

Anyway, I have another chapter that I'll be posting by next weekend, so there's a promise :D

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Violet Eyes chapter 11

Ow.

Ouch dammit!

Naruto had been poked and prodded and flashed by a mob ever since they got to the hospital. X-ray's, needles (ENDLESS NEEDLES!) prodded him, most times taking blood, but otherwise shoving foreign chemical things into him, the scent of which gave Naruto a stuffed up nose and left a funny taste in his mouth.

The entire hospital left a funny taste in his mouth actually, though that part could do with the recycled, sterile air, the dead white walls, and the fact that any time he went there when he was younger he was practically sent out as soon as he stopped bleeding quite so profusely. The artificial lights hurt his eyes (that had STILL not turned off and were therefore still a wimpy PURPLE), his nose was getting stuffed from the variety of dead unnatural smells raping his olfactory system, he reeeeally needed a glass of water or SOMETHING, he also needed Ramen in immense quantities, and his head was starting to feel a tiny bit light and fluffy from all the blood taken from him. There was also the deal with the stupid fox in his head commenting on every doctor and nurse that walked by.

**~She has a nice rack, wow; can you believe that guy's package? He'd be nice if he had some more hair, and what he DID have didn't seem to be dyed, and oooh… I LOVE redheads… ~**

One other thing was bugging him too, other than those already listed (and the fact that he'd recounted what had happened for the past week or so about a million friggin' times!), and it could be phrased this way;

What do you do when your teammates, the people who are supposed to back you up and support you, are told what could be the largest secret in the village, which so happens to be about you, and they just stand there with their mouths open?

Like, seriously, they've been standing there catching flies for like 10 minutes. Staring.

-and not in the way that they'd been staring at him for the past week or so… more like the way students in class stared at Iruka-sensei when he starts on one of his lecturing modes; looking but not really processing anything, mind on something else entirely.

But no, even now that wasn't quite right… they weren't thinking something else entirely when they stared right now…

Maybe they were connecting the dots, the way that the other villagers treated me, how I acted, maybe even thinking about how I was secretly planning to explode the entire village or some shit like that. They'd been quiet for the entire 2 minutes that it'd taken them to get t the hospital, and for the 2 minutes of people… _swarming_ around him, too. They'd responded on auto pilot every time they'd been asked to talk about what had happened, and that damn _look_ hadn't left their eyes _once_.

It was really amazing what the hospital staff could do in less than six minutes, at least when they only had orders from the old man to find out as much information on him as possible… especially since they didn't seem to recognize who he was, at least judging by the lack of malice turned towards him…

Ouch!

It was also amazing how getting information about his physical being involved so many needles.

Naruto was brought to a room where he had multiple x-rays taken, and he was told to lie down, where a group of medical Nin came and ran glowing green hands over him in shifts, each Nin moving away once he or she was done to write something down.

After what seemed like ages, a medical ninja came to the old man, an official looking clipboard in his hands.

"Hokage-sama, the scans and charts for this young man are filled out… I have to tell you that we haven't ever seen anything of this sort in any body type…"

"Why don't you explain it, would you?"

The Nin led them towards a sort of glowing screen, with his x-rays put up on a little glowing board that highlighted the bones.

Though he'd never extensively studied what a skeleton looked like, he couldn't quite say that there was something wrong with it, but it looked a little off… like someone only got half of the information right, and filled in the blanks with either too much or too little. The Medical Ninja put up what seemed to be another set of x-rays that looked like they should, minus some bumps along the bones. The medic Nin pointed to a printout of his ribs.

"As you'll note, it seems as if his skeleton has shifted. There's another set of floating ribs that seem to be, what with the cartilage that has grown in, be for extra movement and increased flexibility," he moved onto what looked like an image of his back, "and you can see here that he seems to have more vertebrae than he should, suggesting more flexibility if stretched. His shoulder blades are fairly regular, if a little more dipped as an animals' would be, and the bones at his neck have become thicker. It would seem that they have done this enough to a point that it would take Maito Gai at his full strength to even a Kink in his neck, let alone break it."

There is hinting of double joints throughout his skeleton, and, an expansive justu showed that his bones have thinned, allowing more white blood cells to be produced, thus heightening his already high immune system. Normally this would be a bad thing, with a higher possibility of broken bones, but the bone matter seems to be intensely condensed, leaving them stronger than before. All signs of previous breaks have been healed to the point that it didn't seem as if there had been any, and all reactions are top form." At this, another medical ninja rubbed a bruise forming on his cheek after Naruto had kicked him viciously in the face at being tapped on the knee. Naruto had been distracted by a particularly leery comment from the fox when the tap came, and, startled, he'd lashed out.

"According to the reports, his chakra reserves are enormous, and it looks as though he's making another kind of chakra-"

"It's Purple."

Naruto's interruption stuttered the healer to a halt.

"…Pardon?"

"That Chakra, it's purple. MY chakra—m y usual chakra—if it was a colour, it'd be blue. This other chakra is purple, and it seems to seep into the normal chakra when I'm using jutsu that involve the spots I see… any idea why my eyes are STILL activated by the way?" Irritation seeped into his tone at this. He didn't really care much about what the healer was saying, except for the fact that nothing BAD was going to be happening to him as a result to the stupid fox's tampering. Sure, it was cool that his bones were stronger, but he'd already known about his reserves being larger than normal after other kids got tired out quicker than him when doing jutsu when he was younger, and his reactions weren't that much better than they usually were. Yes, he was faster and stronger, and hey, that was AWESOME! But that wasn't new either… a couple of the tests had more than just disgusting comments from the fox. The fox had pointed out when they were doing so-and-such test to test out his strength and speed(**~Where they will tell you that you are stronger and faster, so HAH this body is better~**), and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

"What?"

What, they didn't even look into that? Naruto didn't want to have goddamn PURPLE eyes for the rest of his life, and it was getting slightly distracting seeing everyone covered with spots!

"Oh, um, no, we aren't entirely sure why your… bloodline isn't receding, but that brings us to another point."

**~Ho hum, I wonder why your eyes aren't going back to their regular blue. It really is a mystery. If only there was someone who already knew all about your bloodline that you could ask…~**

Naruto scowled, and let the others think that he was scowling at not knowing why his eyes weren't listening to him. –well, he was—partially—but that didn't mean that a majority was form the stupid fox. Just before he was going to give a scathing mental remark to the fox, he was distracted by another healer coming up to the one who had been giving the explanations insofar.

"Yes, yes! It's fascinating! It seems as if you've had a couple of old bloodlines so completely dormant in your blood that somehow they've merged! True genetic mutations of these proportions are astounding! To have them melded together to such an extent is utterly unthinkable, and yet it happened!"

He looked like he would be vibrating out of his skin with happiness, and his red spots were turning ever more glowy to Naruto's eyes.

**~He's practically orgasmic over this! ~**

Said Kyuubi in his mind, flabbergasted to Naruto's immense amusement. Kyuubi continued amazing over how dedicated the guy must be to his practice if he was _orgasmic_ over something to this extent.

The first Healer spoke again.

"This is Jacque, the resident head on bloodline anomalies. As you can see he has taken a particular shine on Mr. Uzumaki's case, and he is right."

"He's started a whole new bloodline based on several minor ones!" Gushed Jacque. Gushed. Really, what grown man _gushes_ over anything.

"This means, however," continued the first healer, shooting a glance at Jacque, "Is that there is no one to teach you in how to utilize and deal with any changes that will lie ahead."

**~He sure is right. Who on earth could tell you about your new awesome bloodline? I mean, it sure would e convenient if maybe the one who MADE this awesome bloodline were here to tell you about what'll be happening with your bloodline… Oh wait! There is! ~**

_Oh my…_ Naruto thought. He knew that if he was in the least bit sarcastic back that the fox would make him pay by not telling anything to him, so he tried to make his minds 'tone' as polite as possible.

_Oh great fuzzball, could you please, in all your knowledgeable wisdom, teach me of the wonders that you have instilled in this oh so wonderful bloodline you made in me?_

Naruto felt at least three mental shudders wrack through him throughout that plea, and it was hard to force his face to remain neutral when the damn fox started laughing in his head. Fucking fox…

The Two healers went over a few more interesting things, at least from what he could get from a lot of techno babble about machines that they used and doc-talk about his pants or something like that—oh wait; didn't Iruka-sensei say something about genes?

Whatever.

But yeah, all he said was that the purple chakra specifically targeted nerves, kind of like the Hyuuga's eyes were able to specifically see chakra, giving them their 360 degree vision. Now THAT sounded like a cool ability…

But then again, Hyuuga's didn't get all the bodily improvements, now did they…

**~Now you're seeing things my way~**

The voice sounded much too cheerful for Naruto's taste, but he squashed his immediate reaction to mentally yell back, seeing as how he needed the damn fox to tell him more about what, exactly he did to him that day on the bridge.

Sarutobi led them back to his office, where Zabuza and Haku were waiting, seals on all of the exits and on the walls glowing, more seals on the desk and shelves to keep them from snooping.

Naruto had told the old man that it was kind of stupid to do that, since it wasn't like they were actually going to snoop, but he had put them up anyway.

It made sense; he just wished that things that were so painfully clear wouldn't have to be so difficult some times.

Sarutobi sat down the two Nin, one missing and one with a bloodline that would make the village elders gleeful with their greed.

Konoha was one of the top ranked villages in terms of how many bloodlines there were in the villages, just above Iwa and Sand, and the elders on the council had been bringing up the point of trying an intermarriage with another village to create more bonds, and introduce more bloodlines into potential ninja families, but Sarutobi never liked arranged marriages, and had stopped that talk from going beyond mere suggestion.

He talked to the two Nin, using a variation on one of the Yamanaka techniques that put a blue glow over their heads. That glow would go out if they knowingly lied about anything he asked, and would reappear if they told the truth. It was a convenient justu, if not entirely practical.

Kakashi and Naruto both trusted these two, and while he could count on Kakashi's trust as a point of fact due to his ability and experience, he could trust in Naruto's judgment for slightly different reasons.

Sarutobi knew that, despite the smiling mask of cheerful brashness that he put on, Naruto had very little trust for anyone who didn't prove themselves to be, if not friendly, then fair.

Sarutobi knew that others would laugh at such thoughts, but he'd known Naruto long enough and actually listened to him during their conversations about his day that he could read the further extent of Naruto's theory of Who Could Be Trusted.

If you were friendly, that meant you had to have a cause, and wanted something. If you were being mean, or hateful, you were either to be ignored, or you were to be watched. This was mainly talked about when mentioning one Haruno and Yamanaka, in complaining about their attempting to be nice to him to get him to do something for them, or to get him to move seats so that they could sit with Sasuke Uchiha, regardless of the fact that _he_ had sat there first.

If you were indifferent, you slid into two categories; mostly indifferent, or totally indifferent.

If you were mostly indifferent, that meant you were either slightly more friendly-indifferent, or you were more hostile-indifferent, and were to be watched less wearily than the others.

Naruto had only mentioned one person who was entirely indifferent, and that was Shikamaru, the heir to the Nara clan.

Sarutobi thought that it would be too much effort for a Nara to be anything more than indifferent to any but a close friend, and had urged Naruto to at least be civil to the other boy.

If you were stern, you had to be stern to everyone, or at least have made the reasons of your sternness clear. This was mostly teachers that Naruto mentioned, and it was only Iruka that Naruto mentioned to have even remotely fair sternness.

So according to Naruto, if you were friendly without wanting anything, you could then be mean to a degree, so long as you didn't mean to be a threat, and could begin to be trusted. Beyond that, if you were stern, but in a fair way, you could then be trusted…if only to be responsible for your own actions or to be trusted to go to when you have a problem.

Sarutobi knew that there must be some kind of deeper levels to this in Naruto's mind, and knew that, in some ways, his thought process was terribly basic, but aside from one time when he was much younger, all of who Naruto let into his small circle was people who Sarutobi knew were To Be Trusted.

At least in a basic way, that is. Even people you trust can make mistakes.

Sarutobi could tell just by these that he himself was some sort of mix, having been friendly and stern in almost equal measures towards Naruto, but he knew that if he ever brought it up with Naruto, he'd probably get confused, and then defensive, and then possibly angry.

So the fact that Naruto mentioned that he didn't think that the two suspiscious looking nin would do anything wrong said that they had, in some way (probably in some extreme way that bypassed his usual layers and layers of tests), proven that they could be trusted said that he didn't need to worry about some plot to infiltrate Konoha.

While he talked, he tested them to see if they had any jutsu placed on them to listen or see through them, or any other sort of jutsu, but they were clean of any tampering of that sort. It looked as if instead of having to deal with the immense paperwork having them imprisoned and/or executed, he'd be able to get away with granting them citizenship, something that had less than a tenth of the paperwork.

Though he knew that he'd have to debate with the Council about allowing them to join, he'd get the papers then and there, so that it was more of a case of informing than debating.

Oh how Sarutobi despaired over how far ahead of themselves the council had gotten.

The Council was meant to allow figureheads of the community contribute to the running of the village, bringing up issues so that they could be solved with the minimum amount of problems.

If a shipment for—metals, let's say—was late in coming, then it had to be noted so that the blacksmiths could inform the various stores of their waylaid shipment.

If there was a continued issue with the shipment, then that would mean that any construction businesses would have to be informed that their parts would have to wait, and any and all weapon stores would be informed.

The best way to keep a village running, Sarutobi always said, was to keep everyone informed. Arashi had seen that even as he himself had, and had developed this system even more so.

Because, no matter how they tried, Hokage couldn't be everywhere at all times to keep issues from arising, Arashi had divided the various businesses into categories, with a head at these council meetings. These heads would inform the current Hokage about what is happening in their field, and put forward petitions for new businesses if they so chose. If the head was having problems that they couldn't solve, then the Hokage would step in to help, but with this system it was a rare thing to find, and most issues brought up were easily discussed and solved within the near weekly meetings.

The problem with Arashi's set up, at least in the beginning, was figuring who to set as the head of each of the divisions. The elders wanted a vote, but Arashi had told Sarutobi of his doubts about making it into a popularity contest, or into some strange bid for power, so instead he had each of the 'Guilds' or 'Sects' would put forward their candidates and the Hokage would interview each and decide for him or herself. If a Head wanted to back down, he would have his successor and anyone else who was put forward interviewed by the Hokage. Also, if the Hokage and one other guild member, or several members of that guild put forward concerns about the abilities of that Head, then he or she was to be re interviewed with the results of their worries brought up, and if found true, would be replaced similarly.

This would mean that it would never come to the point that the position would be handed down, and eventually become something to worry about.

But it was for the village itself, in the economic ways of things.

The council had been getting ahead of itself, demanding to know of what was happening with the training of the young nin, , about what kind of moves against the 'enemy' villages were being taken, and arguing about who had the 'right' to pass the exams or not.

Nothing that was their business, and they presumed that there was a 'right' in passing; they had demanded that Naruto not be allowed to pass, and had tried to force his hand in the matter.

Thankfully, the heads of the more influential ninja families said nothing on the matter, most humoring the citizens—for whatever 'right' they had to speak up in these meetings, they were still citizens—and had denied their demands for a vote.

Sarutobi had listened to Homura and Koharu and only mentioned to them that it wasn't their business… Sarutobi knew that he was old, and he was tired of playing negotiations, but he knew that in this next meeting, one he would be calling for in the next day or so, he would have to set them straight.

After signing the papers that would mean that they would be able to go through the applications to be accepted as ninja's (and by connection for jobs) of the village… Zabuza had to be on probation for at least a week after he took the tests, but that was to make sure that he wouldn't immediately be in contact with some unknown benefactor.

He trusted them by Naruto's confidence, but he couldn't shrug off all protocol.

Now where to let them stay…

* * *

"I'll be fun having you guys stay with me—oh, but my apartment is a little small, so you might not want to stay that long, but still, lots of fun!"

After the old man had gotten through some boring paperwork, he asked about where they would like to stay, and Naruto had immediately offered his own place.

He was the one who brought them there in the first place, and that way he figured they'd at least be with him to show them around and acclimatize them a bit more. He played off his hasty departure from the old man's office with enthusiasm, but really it was to get away from his teammates still fairly blank faces. He'd have to do something about that…. He agreed to meet back at his office the day after tomorrow to be there at the meeting, but otherwise made a suitably speedy exit.

He didn't know how different Konoha was from Kirigakure—well, it was probably pretty darn different as leaves are from mist, buuut…-but he wasn't going to ask.

Though he'd only known them for a couple of weeks, not even a month yet, he figured that Zabuza at least would take it to mean that he'd only asked them to come so that he could learn whatever secrets they had or whatever.

Pssh, as if. He was curious, yes, and he did want to learn secrets, but like he was going to cheat at it and have someone _tell_ him them.

I mean, seriously, where was the fun in that?

Naruto led them through the streets, noticing that a few people looked at him blankly, and them seemed to recognize him with a start and giving him the customary glare.

He'd have to get his profile updated with his new looks and everything, huh? Oh well, that'll be one afternoon wasted….

If he remembered correctly, the last time he had to have his picture retaken, there were soooo many forms to fill out, his hand was cramping for the rest of the day!

But right then, they still had most of the day ahead of them!

He'd bring them to his place to let them settle in, and then it was RAMEN TIME!

His eyes went a little unfocused at the thought of gently simmering broth, chives and green onion scenting the air and bringing accenting flavour to the little bits of pork/vegetable/chicken/barbeque/other topping to be slurped down with a mouthful of slippery noodles…

Wonder if I can beat my record….

**~HOLY CRAP YOU HAVE NO GAG REFLEX! ~**

He'd been imagining what happened last time he tried—and succeeded—at beating his record (23 bowls :D), and was jolted from the pleasant reverie by the stupid fox shouting in his mental ear.

_Yeah, and?_

He didn't see the big deal… once he'd figured out how to guzzle down noodles at a quicker pace without choking, Iruka-sensei had exclaimed over the exact same thing.

Though his tone of voice said he was more worried that he'd be choking rather than the fox's… well, it sounded a bit like wonder, but why the hell would that fuzz ball wonder about that?

**~This brings so many new possibilities! It cuts down on so much time consuming work as well! Oh, I'm just so…. ~**

A sound came from the fox, and a mental image instantly appeared in Naruto's mind to connect to the noise.

_Constipated?_

**~Pr—Wait what? No, no I'm NOT! I was about to say proud!~**

Sputtering sounds and a correction of his mental image came to mind, and Naruto grinned as he continued to point out interesting shops and places to the two skilled Nin following beside him.

_Were you crying? If I came in there right now, would I find tear marks making your fur all scraggly? HAhhahahahahahahahaaaa!_

Over Kyuubi's sputtering denials, Naruto let out a chuckle. He didn't know how to get back into the seal, but the mental image of a hundred foot fox rushing around trying to fix itself up was just too hilarious.

Oh, what a wonderful thing, having such a vivid imagination…

"What's so funny brat?"

Naruto just grinned at Zabuza and pointed down a fairly wide alleyway.

"When I was around nine or ten, after I transformed all of the images on the Hokage monument to look like what I figured would be their sexy-jutsu form, the ANBU chased me down there…"

"What happened?" asked Haku, a small smile curving his lips.

"I set a trap there earlier, and it covered them with bright, neon yellow paint. Ahahaha, they were so mad, I could only lose them by using my sexy-jutsu on them, and you know what? Ahaha, their nosebleeds, aha, it mixed with the paint so they had to go around the village with orange nose bleeds!"

Though it was one of his more… let's just say _less brilliant_ pranks, the fact that they later couldn't get the paint off entirely because it was an oil based paint, it was one of his longer lasting pranks. Zabuza laughed outright at that, and it even earned a small chuckle from Haku. Naruto grinned. It was always nice to have your pranks appreciated…

"You want to know the best part though? You know how I made the Hokages look like girls?"

They nodded. Even the fox seemed interested, if the listening feeling he was getting from… him? Her? Whatever was anything to go by.

"I set it up so that when they went to expel it, it would trigger another illusion."

"What's the point in that?" Haku tilted his head to the side slightly.

"When they finally did catch me—"

"Wait, how long did it take gaki? Couldn't have been that long…"

Naruto stuck his tongue out as they continued walking.

"I'll have you know that though at that time it wasn't my best record, I managed to keep them running for a good hour and a half before Iruka-sensei caught me. Anyway, when they finally DID catch me, of course I was in a lot of trouble, but while I was talking to the old man and Iruka about it, the other part of my illusion broke. Hehe, so while I was in his office, the monument suddenly turned all painted. Swirls over the eyes, make up, everything! It was perfect, and they couldn't quite blame it on me either!"

"Because you were with the Hokage and that Iruka guy, right?"

Zabuza ruffled Naruto's hair, pushing his head down as he laughed. Haku was grinning as he looked at the monument, no doubt imagining what else could have been painted all over the various somber Hokage visages.

"I still had to clean it up as my punishment, but don't tell anyone else, 'kay, 'cause they still don't know who did it!"

* * *

Haku and Zabuza exchanged looks over the red-tinged blond as he continued to point out different places, and now different pranks too.

They liked their new friend; his open humour was a breath of fresh air from what they had dealt with for the past few years, and they could tell he honestly thought of them as his friends.

They had been—and still were—weary when they walked into the village, and had noticed that though Kakashi's presence had saved them (and Naruto for his change in looks) from being arrested, but they had still been followed discreetly all the way to the Hokage's office.

They had stayed mostly quiet throughout the discussions, content to watch the fascinating interaction between Naruto and the Hokage.

Naruto didn't show an ounce of the usual respect for his Hokage, called him Old Man to his face, and didn't hold back any cussing or curb his reactions to what was being said.

And the Hokage did nothing about it, accepting the nickname as if it was a common occurrence (which they were assuming was). His lack of deference seemed to make the Hokage happy even, though they both knew that it must be just for Naruto.

This was totally different than from the Village Hidden in the Mist that they knew.

They conversed lowly while the rest of the group went to the hospital, accepting the seals and listening for the ANBU that were stations around the room as they talked over what had happened so far.

When they were being questioned, they were as honest as they could be without giving away anything that was not needed, and had signed the papers for being accepted into the community as a citizen, and had filled out the documents that would allow them to work as Ninja of the village.

When Naruto had offered to let them stay with him until they could get their own place, they were happy with it. Staying with him would mean that they would have their own personal 'guide' of sorts, as well as meaning they would be able to look for their own place at their convenience, rather than being rushed.

All in all it was a good deal, and though Naruto still made a comment every once in a while about hoping they would not worry about it being too small or anything like that, they were more worried about the tidiness of the apartment than the size.

They were used to dealing with all sorts of accommodations.

They noticed, not quite immediately, but nearly so, that the other citizens looked at Naruto oddly at first, and then with a glare.

Their first thought was that maybe Konoha was more like Kiri than they thought, with the villagers looking on at strangers with distrust, fear, and mild hate, but none of the stares were being directed at either of them. It also took longer for some than others to start to glare, and they thought maybe this had something to do with the whole Kyuubi business that they were told about.

While it was obvious to them that the demonic Fox had no hold over Naruto, and they had told him as much when he kept glancing at them worriedly, the reactions of his teammates and the villagers told that maybe not everyone were so sure.

It was apparently a secret to those who weren't alive or old enough yet when the Kyuubi attacked, so that would explain why his teammates had reacted to the news, but…

Ah, yes, it was probably a domino effect that made even the younger villagers glare.

Their parents glared, and probably warned them against Naruto, so they grew up into hating him. It made both wonder how Naruto had grown up into such an energetic sort, when such constant treatment would have driven most mad.

As it was, Naruto seemed to notice it more when people only gave him a passing glance, and otherwise didn't react to the looks he was given.

He pointed to another prank site, the Hyuuga compound. Apparently he snuck in last year and put pink dye in all of the main house's shampoo. He mentioned that he left it out of Hinata's supply, since she was a nice girl from school, and his tale brought up another point that seemed to be so severely downplayed. His sensei Iruka had been the one who had caught him the next morning, when he'd asked Hinata how her dad's hair was this morning. So Iruka was his teacher at school…

He finished off the tale with a laugh, since they couldn't find a way to wash out the dye. Apparently he'd gotten the dye from a travelling merchant, who told him he'd only be able to wash it out if he rubbed raw egg and salt into his hair…

If he was to be believed, he had as a ten year old been able to escape the ANBU for over an hour and a half, no mean feat for a full grown ninja, and supposedly could last even longer now unless his development had just stopped at that age. To top that aspect off, it had been his TEACHER who had finally caught him, but from the way that he talked of the man, Naruto was obviously very friendly with him and the teacher probably caught him because he knew him so well, or else thought like a prankster himself.

He'd also managed to sneak into the Hyuuga compound. The Hyuuga's were as well known as the Uchiha in their abilities, and the fact that an eleven or so year old had managed to sneak past their all seeing eyes long enough to put pink dye into their shampoo…

He'd done it to the main house too, who if rumor were to be believed were the 'high classes of the clan…

And yet he had supposedly failed the graduation test three times according to Sakura, and he was seen as the 'dead last' of the class…

Zabuza and Haku shared a look once more.

This would bear watching…

* * *

Naruto knew he was taking a slightly longer route to his house, but he wanted to show them around a bit. He liked making them laugh, and it was a joy to show off where he'd pranked who, when, because it always resulted in a smile or a laugh.

Most yelled though, so this was a welcome change.

He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the scents of Konoha. He could smell flowers, dirt, food, and smoke…

Maybe someone was having a barbeque?

Naruto hoped so, since the only one who had a grill was Ms. Horsc down the street from him, and she was always willing to part with a couple of tender loins for a few bucks.

The smell was coming from his street, and he could see smoke spiraling over the buildings… Naruto recalled three summers ago, when Ms. Horsc had fallen asleep while waiting for the meat to cook, and it made the meat billow smoke like that, and this time there was even more smoke than usual.

Just as he was about to rush around the corner to see if there was something larger burning, Ms. Horsc herself running around the corner, yelling for help. She jerked to a panicked stop in front of him when she noticed him (and then recognized him), and seemed to be panicking.

Apparently she burnt a lot… maybe her garden was on fire too?

"Naruto? What—No, that can wait—Naruto, it's on fire!"

"What is, your grill? Did the fire spread? What—"

"No, Naruto! Just because that happened just ONCE, you don—"

"Well what IS on fire then?" He couldn't believe that she was taking so long to get the answer out. What if someone got hurt?

She huffed out a frustrated breath, and looked him in the eye, tears welling up. Naruto felt that maybe it was something bad… a ball of dread was curling up in his stomach, and it was making his breath hitch.

**~Oh no…~**

"It's your house Naruto. It's on Fire."

TBC

* * *

Happyness and sunshine, I finally updated huh? Isn't it great :D Or not so great...

Either way, please review and tell me why, so I can make it better!

Please review!

And Happy Holidays and Happy 2011!

~Doodled93~


	12. Chapter 12 thoughts vs Thoughts

Hey, here's an actual update, with the rant that I put up before at the bottom (don't feel like having to post it again). There was mention that in the last chapter, I didn't have enough about the reactions and such, and it seemed like I was rushing it (10 chapters to get to Konoha, and then a blip through the reactions? Pfft!), and I apologise now! I"M SORRY I DIDN"T GET THIS CHAPTER UP AS SOON AS I SAID!

Exams are a bitch, and you're all lucky I'm even posting this now, 'cause I have my Physics Exam on Thursday (AGGK!), and I just finished typing this up now. Please Review with your thoughts and opinions, suggestions are always great, and I hope you enjoy!

READ AND REVIEW!

Chapter 12: there's thoughts... and then there's Thoughts

Sakura walked back to her house in what felt like a daze. She said hello to her mother on her way to her room, and flopped onto her bed, pulling a pillow over her head.

Naruto.

Kyuubi.

The nine-tailed Demon fox…

No one _didn't_ know about the Kyuubi attack all those years ago. Thousands died, even more were injured, and more than half of the village was destroyed.

The majority of the eastern district was still being remade, and her mom was talking about maybe moving there in a couple of years, maybe…

There wasn't one person since it happened who didn't grow up with tales of the red eyed demon fox who rampaged more than a decade ago. Hell, her own mother had told stories to her about how the Kyuubi would come after her if she didn't clean her teeth, to clean his own teeth with her bones.

But Naruto?

Sakura had to wonder if he heard tales of the Kyuubi when he was younger. From what was said, and connecting the dots of how the older villagers treated him, the ones who were alive and capable of more than an infant's thoughts knew that he'd had the fox sealed into him. Did he grow up hearing about Kyuubi as she did? Or did he overhear the villagers telling of how HE would come after them?

Naruto?

The fourth Hokage, the Yondaime, sacrificed himself for the village, to destroy—

No.

To what?

Seal the fox into a human child?

Or maybe even to seal the fox into the _form_ of a human child?

She'd always taken it for granted that he was an orphan, thinking that his parents had died in the accident… but wouldn't his parents have objected to having their child have a demonic entity sealed into him? No one had adopted him, or even had moved forward as distant relations… though that could do with having the Kyuubi sealed into him.

But again, even if all of his relations had died, the Yondaime wouldn't have sealed the Kyuubi into a child without consent from the parents. In all of the history books she'd read, the Fourth Hokage was shown as one of the strongest, most considerate of the Hokage's, and she very much doubted that he'd do something like that.

So was that it? He only _seemed_ human?

Was that why her mother had always warned her against playing with Naruto when she was little? Because she knew that if she did, she'd be in danger?

But how could Naruto—Naruto!—of all people be the Kyuubi? He'd failed the test THREE TIMES, and spent all of his time pulling idiotic pranks! And if a demon was trying to cut down on attention, to get some kind of revenge or something, why would it spend all that time pulling outrageous pranks on ANBU, and pulling off huge pranks on the village at large? It just didn't seem at all likely!

But…

Maybe all that was just an act…

I mean, he was amazing at the bridge, and at that first attack from Zabuza. And had taken out Haku when even _Sasuke_ couldn't…

And weren't foxes known for trickery?

So maybe all of that talk of being Hokage was just that—talk.

—or maybe his plan is to become Hokage, and then destroy the village he'd once failed to destroy due to the fourth.

So really, all of it had been an act, to lure us all into a false sense of security, to get us to, if not like him, trust in him—

Sakura jerked up suddenly, shocked at her own thoughts.

How could she be thinking that?

Naruto had never shown himself to be anything but himself —almost to a fault—and though he was regularly annoying, he'd never acted even remotely evil.

She smiled.

Well, maybe some of the people he's pranked would disagree…

She still remembered the first time her mother had ushered her away from him, warning to stay away from _that boy_ with what she now realized was an excuse of him being a 'bad influence'.

Before that she'd been sitting in the sandbox by herself, sad because the other kids were making fun of her forehead. A shadow had blocked out the sunlight for a moment as a figure crouched in front of her, a welcome smile in place.

"Whatcha sad 'bout?" he'd asked, and she'd shyly explained what the other kids had said, expecting this smiling boy to turn cruel. She hadn't seen him playing with the other kids either, so she told herself that she was doing herself a favor… maybe…

But the boy just looked puzzled.

"Well I think you look pretty…"

She'd just stared at him, shocked, but he just giggled and told her she had pretty eyes before her mother had hurried over to lead her away.

She remembered looking back and seeing him walking towards a pretty blonde girl (who she now knew as Ino) playing with flowers.

He said something to her, and pointed in her direction before walking off to the swings as Ino's mother started heading in their direction. When it was time to go home, Naruto had still been swinging slowly on the swing set.

A knock on her door jerked her from the memory, and her mother came in holding a tall glass of water.

"I thought you might be feeling sick, so here's an Advil and some water. It's good to have you home dear, you can tell your father and I all about your first mission after you get some sleep, okay?"

Sakura nodded and said goodnight, then stared at the glass, wiping away the condensation in lines.

How could she even be contemplating this? Naruto was Naruto, as clear as the glass in her hand. He couldn't have hidden some inner evil any more than he could resist a two-for-one price sale for ramen at that Ichiraku place he liked going to so much.

Though, really, he wasn't nearly so clear cut as she'd thought.

Sure, he was still pretty transparent, but it was obvious that he had something's that he just kept to himself, and maybe some of his loud attitude was a cover up…

She swallowed the pill with a mouthful of water, and swirled the remaining water for a little while.

To the villagers, Naruto was kind of like the glass… when you look at it, you look at the contents, rather than the workmanship f the glass. Hell, going by that, it's likely that everyone's really just a glass of water, but unlike Naruto, maybe everyone else is one of those highly stylized glasses, or maybe the plastic ones, and that's why people noticed the water in Naruto more than in other people… even if that wasn't the case, and everyone was, in fact a clear glass, maybe they're just certain that the water inside of Naruto is poisoned…

She laughed at her thoughts. How ridiculous… but….

If, in fact, there was some inner demon, Sakura was just glad that Naruto was enough of a clear cut glass that it's obvious to see that the water inside is pure, rather than poisoned as so many people seemed to think. Besides, he was pretty cute now…

She changed into her plush pajamas, and crawled into bed, flicking off the light.

She'd have to talk to him tomorrow… maybe go find Ino to brag about the TWO hotties on her team now…

She smiled.

Maybe he'd make a self-styled sexy-jutsu for use on girls…

As her mind blanked out, her inner self shouted out one last "CHYAH!" before passing out from a nosebleed, naked Naruto's, glistening with sweat, dancing through her head.

* * *

**_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_-'*'-_**

* * *

Sasuke finished unpacking his equipment from the mission, setting out what he'd likely need for tomorrow in his holsters and set out on the table to be picked up in the morning. He'd finished showering once he'd gotten back, and had already gotten his dinner ready. The rice should be done by now, so he walked to the kitchen and put his plate together.

All of this was done on autopilot, since he'd been doing this since before he started at the academy. The only difference this time was that he didn't take the simple pleasure of being prepared for tomorrow, not at the fact that he would be able to get his morning stretches done with the next day without having to rush so that he'd be ready for the meeting tomorrow on time—for one, getting there on time was useless with Kakashi as their sensei, and two, tomorrow was a 'day off' for them since they had just gotten back from a mission.

Useless…

But tomorrow he needed to talk to Naruto about today…

The news about him having the Kyuubi sealed into him gave him… mixed feelings.

For one, part of him raged, agonizing over the fact that the Dobe had that much power at his disposal! Why did HE get the most powerful of the tailed beasts sealed inside of him, why hadn't it been—

But no.

Even as a kid, he'd noticed that Naruto was treated like crap. Parents treated him like he had something that could infect them, and, following their parents, the kids had shunned him. He'd overheard more cruel jokes with Naruto at the butt of it, both within his hearing range and behind his back, to know that Naruto didn't have anyone. After some reflection he realized that Naruto had been the one to start getting him through his grief—in an odd way at least.

When his parents were… well, when they were gone, for a while he'd secluded into himself. He didn't let the adults—the adults who were supposed to be there when it happened—know how he was feeling, didn't let them know what _the matter_ was. Wasn't it _obvious_? He'd thought. Part of him still ached over the fact that the adults were so oblivious. He'd lost his parents, and they were asking him "what's the matter"?

Then, one day he'd been staring over the lake from the hill, the sunset being so _red_, when there was a sound from behind him.

_Itachi_ had taught him to notice small sounds like that, just as he'd taught him so many other things, and he jerked around, a scowl planted firmly over his features.

He'd been more outraged when it was a kid about his age, a cheerful, bright blond headed boy with tan features and sunny blue eyes. How dare he look so cheerful! It had even looked as if he'd been doodling whisker marks on his cheeks (though now he knew they were birth marks… or maybe a result from the sealing…?), and he'd felt so angry that someone would look at him with such hope. Why was it that he got to be happy?

The other kids had been giving him 'space'—translation: they'd been avoiding him and whispering behind his back because their _parents_ told them to. So why was this kid here?

Oh, right. He remembered him around the village, pulling stupid pranks on the adults, and getting yelled at. Not once, though, was there any threat that they'd tell his parents, no matter how angry he got them. Why would he pull the pranks if he was just going to get yelled at? Then again, he never saw him actively playing with the other kids… any time he saw him at the playground before, he'd just been sitting by himself, either under a tree, in the sandbox, or on the swings.

His scowl apparently hadn't done anything to push away the stupid kid, so he turned around with a huff. There was a small thump as the kid dropped himself next to him, and Sasuke had tensed up. He hadn't heard him move from his spot at the top of the hill, and he was sitting _right there_.

"Hi"

He ignored him, turning his head slightly away. The other kid had a nice voice.

Before the parents had told the kids to give him 'space', this tactic had worked to keep others from bugging him. He'd found that if it was a measure of patience, the kids would go away if he ignored them.

"Would you have wanted to have never ever have met your parents?"

He remembered jerking around to glare at him, but he was just looking calmly out at the lake, only glancing at him after a moment.

"Well?"

"What do you mean? Of course not!"

It was ridiculous that he even asked. Maybe that was why none of the other kids played with him. The Blond Boy looked at him, blue eyes searching black.

"But wouldn't it be easier if you had lost your parents before you actually got to know them?"

He had the gall to actually sound serious. Despite himself, he found himself answering, anger choking him up a little.

"What are you even talking about? That doesn't make any kind of sense!"

"Yes it does… how is being sad for a stranger dying the same as being sad for someone you knew and lived with dying, let alone family dying? See, now you're not making any kinda sense!"

"It—"

He stopped. Would he have wanted to never have met his parents? He felt the ache in his chest at the thought of their deaths, and knew that if they had been strangers, if he'd never met them, that ache would never be there… but the thought of having never even met them before created a whole different kind of ache. A worse one…

"No, I don't wish I'd never knew them…" the sentence tasted odd in his mouth, and he made a face.

"What?" he responded without thought, even letting out a chuckle afterwards.

"If my mom heard me say that, she'd have corrected me, and made me say it right a dozen times"

The boy smiled, eyes closing almost the entire way as he rubbed the back of his head with his knuckle.

"She sounds great"

Sasuke nodded, and went on to tell the strange boy about how she would cook his favourites every time he learned something amazing, and about the trips where she would take him into the village, or into the forest…

There was a little more than a sliver of the sun showing above the tree line when he stopped for breath, just finishing telling the boy who he now knew as Naruto about how strong his father was.

He was on his back, staring up at the pink-ish orange clouds above, and Naruto was on his belly, head facing him as he talked. There was silence for a little while as Sasuke thought what else he could tell… he could tell him about _him_, but…

"So you remembering them right?"

"Yeah, I remember them…" Naruto interrupted him, shaking his head as much as possible with his chin resting on his forearms.

"Nu-uh. I mean, are you remembering them the right _way_ now?"

He'd looked at him, startled and more than a little confused.

"Well, seems like before, all you were remembering about them was how they died, rather than how they lived." Sasuke was starting to feel the ache in his chest again. How could he have _forgotten_? No, he hadn't forgotten, but how could he be telling this stranger all about his _parents_? But Naruto continued, regardless of his thoughts.

"Personally, when I die, I'd like people to remember the times when I was alive, rather than going over how I died… I mean, I'm more than a couple of years old, and I've been living for so long that don't you think it'd be silly if you focused on the short time when I died? I mean, between the amount of time I lived and the amount of time it took me to die, it's a _huuuuge_ difference right? Sure, when someone dies you wish they hadn't, but to focus on that so much, I would say that they didn't know me at all if they thought I would want them to focus on _that_! I mean, that's why I want to be Hokage! I'll be…"

Naruto was rambling now, but Sasuke wasn't listening any more. His head felt like it was bursting with cotton, as the past month and a half went by in his head. All that time…

Naruto abruptly stopped talking, and jerked upright, staring at the bottom of the hill.

A small group of adults were there, heading in their direction. Naruto stood up quickly and, not looking at him, turned to go.

"Nice meeting you Sasuke, but I don't think we should hang out any more. Goodbye."

And he ran off as the Adults reached their spot, leaving Sasuke with a shocked and new, angry ache starting in his chest.

It really was amazing how observant Naruto had been all those years ago, and looking back on it now, he probably thought that Sasuke'd get in trouble if he'd continued being friends—well, as much 'continued' as being friends for a couple of hours can be.

To go back to his predicament about the Kyuubi being sealed into Naruto, yes, a part of him wanted to be angry that Naruto got to have such an obviously powerful being sealed into him—as if it was an honor or a privilege— but the rest of him was in a split sense of unhappiness for him.

Unhappiness because he had to deal with the villager's hatred for having the fox sealed into him, even though he didn't have any choice in the matter, and unhappiness that it had to be Naruto who had to deal with such hatred.

It wasn't fair for him, and some soft spot for Naruto—a spot that had grown larger with the realization that he wasn't intentionally hurting him all those years ago—ached in sympathy.

But Naruto would probably yell at him if he showed any pity for him…

The villagers no doubt thought that just because he had the fox sealed into him that it meant that he WAS the fox, but if there were two things that he absolutely knew, it was the Fourth and Naruto. He'd taken an interest in the Yondaime when he realized how powerful he was, and had found out that he was a seal master—something that he still thought was pretty useless except in dire situations. A seal master fucking up a seal? Not likely.

Also, he'd been watching Naruto for years (if only to glare broodingly), and if he'd ever shown any hint towards some demonic personality, Sasuke would have noticed it.

No, what he needed to talk to him about was Itachi.

Now, at the best of times, he didn't even want to think his name, let alone talk to someone about him, but after He told everyone that he had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him, his mind jumped to one fact.

This fact was a combination that one, yes, other people (stupid villagers) thought that he was the Kyuubi, two, some people had lost their entire families, and probably blamed Naruto for their deaths, and three, the combination of these two meant one solid fact.

Naruto was the villages Itachi. He was _everyone's_ Itachi, if they connected him to the disaster more than a decade ago.

No—worse than Itachi—it was Itachi multiplied by a couple thousands.

He didn't know what, exactly, he'd say, but he knew he had t at least talk to him about it.

Talking.

With Naruto.

That was more than he got to do with Itachi.

As Sasuke got ready for bed, he wondered idly if some part of the talk would include Sakura, or if she would be like the villagers and assume the worst.

He closed his eyes and a picture popped into his head to lull him to sleep, one that had been stuck in his mind since a couple of days ago.

His mind drifted off to an image of Naruto decked out with full Uchiha apparel, slowly stripping until he was only wearing navy boxers with small Uchiha fans scattered across it. In the font, in bold white lettering across the crotch, were the words "Property of Uchiha", and his mind stayed fixed on that…

At least until Naruto hooked his thumbs in the elastic sides, and slowly pulled down…

**TBC**

* * *

_Heyla! This isn't actually an update (that'll happen in a couple of days), but I seem to be getting a lot of reviews in regards to the kinds of pairings…_

_You see, this makes me slightly curious, since, I believe I've made myself clear._

_I also realize, though, that not everyone reads those irritating little author comments sometimes in the beginning and end of a chapter (myself included)_

_So I'd like to get this out now, and I'll post this with the next chapter (hate it when it says x chapters but is actually less because of AN's, and the authors don't bother to just add the note to the next chapter…)_

_Okay, main comments about the pairings and the story in general (please note that all of the signed reviews, I do my best to respond to unless I cannot thing of a single thing to say, and this will be a general reiteration to the reviews)_

_"**Awesome job on the story, keep up the good work, I love it…etc…"**_

_Okay, great! This shows me that I'm doing a good job, and it means that I can freak out whichever family member is in the same room as me by smiling widely and laughing for apparently no reason._

_These reviews also make me happier if they're followed by something like "I really liked _" or "I laughed so hard at _"_

_In general, these are my favourite (if you could have a favourite) and make me want to hug the reviewers *HUGS!*_

_"**I didn't like it, it's not what I thought it was, ugh…etc…"**_

_Happily, I haven't gotten any of these, but if I had, I would have made them my top priority. These tell me what I need to work on and they challenge me to make the next chapter good enough to have that reviewer be like "hey, this is better :D"_

_I welcome flamers :D_

_"**SUGGESTIONS!"**_

_I love you **Beleth** (to name only one) because you reviewed with such enthusiasm and proposed so frikkin much! I love it when people give me story line suggestions, because even though I might not use all of them, then at least I can have them in mind, and maybe do something similar if not exactly the same :D_

_And now for what is usually accompany to those…_

_"**YAOI! OMIGOD you have to do _, Don't make them straight! I love this pairing! NaruSasu! Please have these pairings (itanaru, shikanaru, gaanaru, etc…), I vote yaoi!, etc…"**_

_A bit over the top examples, yes, but the gist from them is Pro yaoi. I like yaoi, I like hetero, I myself am hetero, but I still enjoy yaoi. However, Though a couple of my other stories are primarily yaoi, I wanted this one to be mostly bi…_

_I know more stuff about hetero than yaoi (despite how much I've read *wink wink*), and I grin with the rest of you when realizing how much more of a problem Naruto's bloodline would give to those with the y chromosome, since it isn't as much of a pain for girls (don't deny it! We don't rsk pain if we don't deal with it :D), so yes, there will still be some yaoi, but… tentatively… If, at some point, you request something like : "hey could you write a scene with Naruto and _male_ with these specifics" I will try my best, and if it's just a general not-from-Violet-Eyes, I still will try my best to write it, and post it separately with a message to you to inform you of it._

_And I thank you all yaoi lovers who have not been overly pushy about the pairings :D I thank you for that, because there is nothing more frustrating than having someone tell you that YOUR story would be crap unless you did it according to so and such readers criteria._

_Sucks._

_"**I think it should be Hetero, No yaoi!, This is having yaoi undertones and I dun like it, oh this is yaoi, I'm going to stop reading, if you make it yaoi it'll ruin it! Etc…"**_

_Again, slightly over exaggerated, but there are very few who have just been like "yeah, I hope it'd hetero, but if it's yaoi, meh, whatever" or actually give legit reasons (thank you **Nodoka Miyazawa**, to name only one :D) such as it being unrealistic if he suddenly turns gay or how it would fudge his character because of this legit reason._

_Most have been telling me that this story should be entirely hetero._

_Because if it isn't they'll stop reading_

_Because yaoi is gross_

_Because it'll ruin the whole story!_

_Because _ is NOT Gay_

_Just BECAUSE_

_Etc…_

_Okay, well 1, how mature can you get? Are you trying to threaten me into writing the story YOUR way? As if, and if my story line is awful enough that only the promise of an entirely hetero relationship being shown was keeping you reading, then why the hell are you telling me this? The only reason why you're even mentioning it is because you think that'll change my mind… I'm glad that people read my friggin fiction, but this is fanfiction people! I thought this would be a cool scenario, and I wrote it because I wanted to! Ditto for 3, btw, because if homo vs. hetero is ruining my story, then I'm a piss all writer, and no one is stopping you from reading. As for 4, it's fanFICTION. Look it up._

_5 doesn't deserve a comment, and backing up to #2… well this one is the one that is my main beef._

_Grow the fuck up! How old are you, 5? Do you also think that it'll give you cooties or something? I haven't done it for any of my other stories, but that's because this hasn't been brought up in any of them._

_Here's the deal you homophobes, and even for those of you who are simply not comfortable with reading a pairing you don't like, whether it's two specific characters or male-female or male-male;_

_All of the yaoi bits that are beyond kissing are going to be in **bold**, and all the hetero bits that are beyond kissing are in italics. That way, those who aren't comfortable with either hetero or homo relationships to that level can skip down past the bold or italicized bit and continue reading._

_If you're worried about missing something, I'll also put in, in brackets, a very non-graphic description if someone requests it to be done consistently._

_i.e. things were touched, there was groping, _ said that he/she'd be moving to Alaska and le gasp! Here we are now_

_Also, to the people who've told me I should write two versions, one hetero and one yaoi… really? Just—really? A couple of people have asked this, and I'm flabbergasted that you guys would think that I would go that far. Once again, if you'd rather see something else, no one is stopping you, and if a little possibility of yaoi or hetero (though I still haven't gotten a problem like that), then it obviously isn't good enough of a story to need that._

_Honestly, I don't know why so many people seem to care… and sorry if I seem a little harsher to the yaoi haters, but I haven't gotten ONE (not ONE) review saying that hetero is icky and I shouldn't have any at all. I've gotten "if you end up with yaoi, please can we have so and such pairing?" I've gotten a couple of "let it be bi" kind of comments, but I haven't gotten anyone demanding I write something their way._

_Thanks for reading my rant if you didn't just drop it after you realized it was indeed a rant, and really, though I love having reviews and knowing people read what I wrote, I wrote this for fun. I wrote it because I like writing and I thought that hey, maybe someone else would get a kick out of this situation as well._

_Sorry if this was a little pissy, but I got 4 reviews about the pairings, and while half of that was comments on bi and an actual reason why it should be at least mainly hetero, still._

_I posted it late last night guys!_

_So here's three pages of me venting my frustrations with being bombarded with homophobes and children, please realize that I will take it into account if you mentioned in a review that you'd prefer hetero/yaoi, but don't try to threaten/be immature about the reason/tell me that it should be so not **so**, because I never said I was terribly mature, and I might just make it entirely yaoi just for spite. Now there's a threat, huh? Jk, but seriously._

* * *

Okay, and that's the end of the chapter, and the blurb of my rant, and now I have to go and look up mor information on vectors in relation to different area's as well as going to memorize more than a dozen different formulas to find the speed of a dumbass electron.

Have fun, and don't take gr 12 physics unless you're VERY confident in your abilities!

Ciao

~Doodled93~


	13. Chapter 13 Burn Baby Burn!

Read bit at bottom for info on next updates.

Hope you enjoy!

Violet Eyes Chapter 13

Naruto couldn't speak for a moment, mind processing what Ms. Horsc had just said. On fire…

"FU—!"

Naruto sprinted towards his apartment, and jumped over crowd staring in surprise at the billowing smoke and red flames licking up the sides of the building. Naruto didn't stop to count how many of them were smiling.

Jumping up to the second floor's overhang and using a couple of clones to kamikaze through the third-floor's window, he barely registered when a fireball erupted as more air was introduced to the inferno inside.

Flames licked at his clothes, and some distant part of him was glad that he'd dropped his bag of new clothing before jumping inside. Fabric smoldered and Naruto felt the hair on his arms curl up and burn in the heat. When his eyes started streaming from the smoke and his lungs ached and stung from the heat of the air and from smoke inhalation, he thought about the training he'd done with his teammates, putting a barrier between himself and wood…

Chakra blasted around his form, but it didn't help with his lungs or his sight, though he could no longer feel his clothes burning. It was only through more than a decade of experience getting through his apartment that he managed to make it to what used to be his room, feel under his bed for the loose, now burning floorboard—oh fuck, please let it still be there…

Stupid fire should just go out already.

Outside, Zabuza, Haku, as well as a couple of ninja who got there moments after Naruto dove inside of what the two could only guess was his apartment, were using various water-jutsu to try to contain/put out the fire…

This was putting things into perspective more and more for the two nin, aided by the number of faces that been grinning at the fire…. In particular at the window that Naruto had disappeared into just moments before…

He'd been inside for more than five minutes when there was an explosion of what looked like a jumble of red and blue chakra, exploding part of a wall and causing the fire to roar up even higher, totally engulfing the third and fourth floors. The swirl of chakras clung to the burning structure, and seemed to dance into the flames, pulling at the tendrils of heat into itself and growing larger. The fire spiraling upwards was a mix of colours, blue, green, red, orange, beautiful and deadly as it swelled and raged, and for a moment it seemed like large dark eyes stared out from the fire, glaring at all.

In the moment of silence following the booming roar of from the explosion, both Zabuza and Haku felt their hearts stutter for a moment when there was no sign of movement from inside. What if—

A ball of fire dispatched itself from the blaze, and hurdled down to the street below, scattering the villagers below. The chakras trailed from it, and swallowed the rest of the fire in the third floor before following and disappearing.

When it hit ground, and started rolling a bit, Zabuza turned his jutsu to his friend until he was no longer on fire.

It hit most of him, and Zabuza grinned underneath his bandages at Naruto's spluttering.

Naruto suddenly yelped and started slapping at the back of his right knee, where some stubborn sparks still remained even as the fabric soaked.

"Fuck I'm on fire!"

Zabuza and Haku smiled. Their new friend was so expressive sometimes.

Naruto flailed for a moment until he was sure that all of the sparks were gone, and glared at Zabuza, presumably because of him snorting at his oh so eloquent exclamation.

Everything seemed abrupt in those few short moments… or at least to Naruto it did.

Yes, he'd managed to save his Box, and it didn't seem more than just a bit hot since the fire hadn't quite gotten into his bedroom… well, at least until he'd run through the window to escape the overly warm room.

But he'd still been surrounded by flames, the air burning even as he breathed it, sweat evaporating almost before it had a chance to stick to his skin…

Naruto could still smell the coppery, almost peppery smell of burnt flesh and hair, and was almost disconcertedly interested in how his blackened and blistered skin flaked away with charred clothing as he patted himself down. The bits would probably have not been terribly noticeable if it weren't for the fact that his whole body felt like a month-old scab that just needed to be picked at.

He didn't pay any attention as the villagers around him stepped back, in awe, fear, or disgust he didn't care, as he scratched at the black bits of peeling flesh. Vaguely he wondered if this is what a snake felt when it was time for it to shed its skin, but his mind was mainly full of the furious mutterings of Kyuubi.

**~Using FIRE! My own element! No respect these days, that's for sure… to think that the dumbass plebeians would decide to use fire against the Kyuubi no Youkou's host, it's worse than using water to drown a fish! Stupid, stupid, stupid! ~**

_Did you _want_ me to die or something, fur-ball?_

**~What? NO! When you die, I die, and you haven't even had sex yet! But this is a horrible affront! ~**

_How is it an affront to you? They burned down my apartment, my home, and were probably hoping that I would die in there. Yes, it would mean the death of you too if I died, but their primary objective was to burn down my apartment._

**~What? No, but… UGH! How can I explain this in a way that you would understand? FUCK! ~**

The fox's muttering and expletives continued, and Naruto finished rubbing the dead skin from his face. Nothing like the feel of your eyelids covered with crusty nastiness.

Naruto looked himself over, turning his arms over to see the damage. He was a bit worried, since a good deal of his spare bandage and medical supplies had been hidden in his apartment, with very few things being able to be hid elsewhere without the threat of damage, but his skin was only looking like he'd scrubbed himself hard. Hell, the hairs on his arms were already growing back, and the sun-burned tender feeling all over his body was beginning to fade. His hair felt like it was in dire need of a wash, and it seemed to have grown itself out to be, at its longest, down to his shoulder blades, and at its shortest about 4-5 inches that had been its norm for… What was it now?

At least a month.

Probably longer.

Or it was like 3 weeks…

Fuck Math. And time for that matter. **(*1)**

His hair just looked like an over eager kid had one over bits of it with some scissors before an adult pulled them away. He'd have to figure out where he could get a haircut… maybe Sakura would know?

But now everyone was looking at him weirdly, and there was a distinct breeze around his private parts. Looking down, he saw that he was mostly covered, but one tug would have the scraps of fabric on the sides of his crispy boxers falling off.

Well, at least until he pulled out a pair of boxers from the bag sitting where he'd thrown it and put them on over top, and gave a tug himself to get the remains of silk boxers off.

It was, he thought, quite remarkable how calmly he was taking this, considering he was now homeless with only his money, some clothes, his equipment, and a painting to his name. Oh, and his Box.

In the silence that seemed to permeate the crowd around the blazing fire that was once Naruto Uzumaki's apartment, there was a sigh of disappointment at the loss, and more than one sob when he finished getting on more clothes.

Naruto thought he heard someone gag when, as he shrugged on another t-shirt, a hand sized bit of bunt flesh he'd missed peeled off of his back.

Naruto shook his head, and resigned himself to another visit to the hospital. Hopefully a quiet one, since the fox didn't seem to have stopped it's grumbling…

Kyuubi spoke up, pride in whatever he'd figured out evident.

**~AHA! I know! It'd be like if they tried to kill you by drowning you with Ramen! Or at least destroy your apartment by flooding it with Ramen broth! ~**

And Naruto was horrified and insulted at the thought.

**~EXACTLY! ~**

* * *

The enthusiastic Healer from before was once again drooling while gazing adoringly at his pants.

Or genes, whatever.

"It's brilliant! You healed from third degree burns in under an hour! Burns that would and have crippled and deformed even the toughest of ninja, and actually have, was healed over and scratched off in practically no time!"

Naruto was zoning out by this point. It was cool hearing about how awesome he was from someone else for a while, but that started to get old pretty quickly.

Surprisingly…

Perhaps if he started talking about something that he could help he would be more interesting. But for now he was boring. Dull. Dreary. Kind of mind-numbing…

But that was a natural reaction when you couldn't understand half of what, exactly, was awesome since the stupid guy kept using words that he didn't understand.

Ooh, if Sasuke was there and heard his thoughts somehow, he would have said something that would reinforce his asshole-ness…

A nurse came in, and that caused the now-boring healer to stop talking at him for the moment. After a few seconds, the healer turned back to Naruto with a nervous looking smile on his face. At least that was interesting…

"Sorry Naruto-san, I've apparently been here longer than I'm allowed… "

**~He's leaving! Finally! ~**

"You'll be staying here tonight, and in the morning I'll come by and give you another checkup. The Hokage has already been informed, and your teammates will be here after your check up."

Something behind Naruto's navel seems to shrivel up a bit at that.

It wasn't the fox, though he-she-it (Kyuubi was still changing up its vice from male to female and back again) was old enough he-she-it should be pretty shriveled by now.

**~Hey! ~**

When they'd parted earlier that day they'd looked pale and shocked, Sakura more alarmed, and Sasuke more (if possible) brooding. Neither very good…

And how would they react in the morning, seeing him? Knowing that his house was burned down and now knowing why it was likely set on fire…

Would they even show up?

The Healer took no notice of his thoughts, and cheerfully bade him goodnight, turning off the lights and closing the door behind him.

There was barely any light now, only a thin outline around the door, and some light from outside creating bars of blue-grey light on the opposite wall through the blinds.

What would happen if they chose to tell others? Did the law against anyone talking about his 'condition' include them? Or was it only for those who were around to hear about it when the attack actually happened?

…

Was it possible that they wouldn't want to be team-mates anymore?

Part of Naruto wanted to snort about feeling bad if stupid Sasuke tried to switch teams, hell, he'd probably already tried to get onto a different team, the ass, and no way would Sakura try to switch teams…

Except…

Sakura had that expression on her face as she was leaving… and Sasuke, while he's a brooding bastard, he was kind of…

**~Hot?~**

Naruto's mind just malfunctioned.

_What? No! That was the last thing I was thinking!_

**~Suuure, and now you're NOT thinking about how he's at least mildly attractive, while trying to NOT think about how the entire female population of Konoha thinks he's hot, and about how they may be right. Sure.~**

_Shut up!_

**~Hah, now you're thinking about him!~**

_Shut. Up._

**~How original. Now sop worrying about tomorrow and get some sleep!~**

_How could anyone sleep with an old fart yelling in their mental ear?_

**~I am not an old f—~**

_You're stubborn, loud, think lowly of younger people, and always have sex on his brain. You are an old fart… or maybe not…_

**~Hah! Starting to see my brilliance?~ **

_No. You're a couple of thousand years old, you've passed old and have gone to the land of ancient. You_ _are an ancient fart._

**~Shut up!~**

_Now who's original?_

Silence came from that space in his mind that Naruto had labeled as where Kyuubis voice came from.

Naruto lay back in the hospital bed and closed his eyes.

Worrying about their reactions would have to wait until tomorrow when they were actually coming (or not).

Because really, no matter how much it would hurt if they requested he be replaced, if they couldn't tell the difference between him and a couple thousand-something year old fox, they weren't worth it.

They weren't.

Naruto hoped that he'd be able to remember that tomorrow.

TBC

* * *

**(*1) Time period** – contest for anyone who can give an accurate timeline for what's happened so far! First person to mention an accurate time frame and a scene that they want to see, or something they want to happen, or even just something they want someone to say (Really, anything), and if it's closest to what I have written down here in front of me, I will include it in the story OR if it's something that includes characters that won't be appearing for a while, I'll make a scene especially for you as an omake, or if its something that doesn't actually fit into the story, I'll do it as an omake as well. I did this for one of my stories on wattpad, and had a lot of fun with people's requests. So try to figure out the approximate timeline! Even if you don't have something you would like to see in this.

* * *

Hey all, finally an update, eh?

And another one is coming up soon! Like, actually. There were complaints that I kind of sped up through the reactions in Sarutobi's office, and I kind of agree. That is why I had the looks into Sasuke and Sakura's minds, other than the fact that I wanted to show the funny little bits that I'd already thought up. And Sarutobi is coming up.

Was planning on having something like those chapters anyway, but it was convenient that I now had reason to push it forward, even if I did get complaints about the cliffhanger hanging longer.

:D

Check out my profile to find out why my already few updates seem to be especially long, at the bottom. Reasons why there would be delays will always be there when I have time to update it. You guys are lucky I'm updating anything at all :D

So here is another chapter, hope you all enjoyed it, and will have another update next week or sometime this week if I can get to the internet.

~Doodled93~


	14. Chapter 14 Sucks to be Sarutobi

Yay, exciting second update!

Hope you enjoy.

Violet Eyes Chapter 14

Sarutobi lit up his pipe and sighed.

Today has been too much…

He'd been happy when he found that Team 7 would be scheduled to be back that day. It had been too quiet without their orange bombshell, and the ANBU had been growing complacent without Naruto's pranks to keep them on their toes.

That he could find time in between training and eating to trade all of the ANBU's masks for children's monster masks…

Well, more likely he'd made time to do it.

They'd have to work on the security of the ANBU headquarters once again, and Sarutobi would have to remember to put aside some time to listen to the complaints from the three Nin who had been promoted to ANBU while Naruto was gone.

Regular ninja never heard of the numerous pranks that Naruto had played on ANBU, and probably never would until Naruto told them.

Naruto had probably told the two missing Nin from Hidden Mist when they were heading to his apartment.

Sarutobi sighed once again.

His burned down apartment was another problem added to the stack.

Sarutobi had called for Team 7 to be let in, and was immediately alert to the fact that two more masked Nin walked into his office than there should have been along with a blank faced Nin with senbon hidden in their sleeves.

And Naruto wasn't with them.

…

But apparently he was.

He'd been suspicious and angry when one of the strange masked Nin called him old man as Naruto did his large purple (slitted…) eyes an expressive mockery of Naruto's own blue eyes. He had on a Konoha leaf headband, but Sarutobi had never seen… no… there was something familiar, and he tried to figure it out as the masked ninja nattered at him.

When the ninja finally pulled down his mask, and Sarutobi saw the three whisker marks on either cheek, Naruto's mouth formed into a pout as he muttered with another's voice. He also saw the probably reason why he was wearing a mask.

He claimed to be Naruto.

And seemed extremely insulted that he didn't recognize him.

Sarutobi believed him.

His minds knowledge of what Naruto looked like warred with his eyes and tried to reconcile this eccentric Nin with his own eccentric Nin.

How had they gotten him out of the orange?

The red-tipped hair, the purple eyes, the clothes, the physical differences…

Sarutobi's first thought, a thought that he now saw as a sign of his old age, was how disappointed he was. Why would Naruto do this to himself the first time he was away? He was too young to be going though such a phase… he'd be getting piercings and odd tattoos next, Sarutobi was sure.

But that didn't explain the physical differences.

Taller, leaner, a narrower face…

Team 7 started to explain, each taking turns with part of the tale, Naruto making his opinion known in between each of his team-mates even as they 'corrected' what he said.

As they spoke, Sarutobi kept an eye on the two missing Nin, moving to keeping both eyes on them when he found out that one of them was Momochi Zabuza and the other had an unknown bloodline.

They'd fought them, and the demon brothers?

That was much more than a C level, and Sarutobi thought that he'd have to make sure that they were paid for a B a least as continued to listen to their report.

A bloodline?

Sarutobi frowned.

Neither of Naruto's parents had had any strand of a bloodline. And what they were saying it did, it seemed as if it was some sot of branching from the Hyuuga bloodline.

They would likely deny any connection, but if they decided that they wanted him under their jurisdiction…

Sarutobi would not allow them to pt the caged bird seal on him as a 'branch' member.

But then again, Naruto wouldn't likely want to be part of the Hyuuga family. He smiled internally. Naruto would likely deny any offer of family if it was solely because he developed a bloodline…

Thinking of the few times he'd managed to get a prank on the Hyuuga's, he didn't think either the Hyuuga's nor Naruto would want to be considered 'family', bloodline or not.

Sarutobi smiled at the thought of Hyuuga Hiashi with bubblegum pink hair storming into his office from a couple of years ago.

But if they pushed it…

Sarutobi was glad there was a law against someone being forced into a family, even when they are underage. The person must give consent and sign a contract stating such before they can be adopted into a family, or into a branch of a family, unless the child is unable to sign their name. It was a law that Minato had passed within the first year he became Hokage.

It had seemed like a fairly blasé law to put in place, and none of the council had protested the strange new law. But now it was working out like this…

Minato always had found ways to get his point across to the council.

But back to the manner at hand.

The bloodline didn't seem likely to stem from an actual blood relative, and he wondered…

Naruto and Kakashi shared a look and then glanced at Sakura and Sasuke, and Sarutobi realized that they had something to say that they didn't think would be okay to say in front of the two. He could probably guess what it was about then.

Could Minato's seal be weakening?

No…

But Sarutobi looked into Naruto's eyes; saw the slit pupils, the red surrounding it…

But also the blue.

Sarutobi had asked for Sakura and Sasuke to leave.

Naruto had stopped them.

Sarutobi sighed again.

The law against telling about the Kyuubi being sealed inside of Naruto had been to allow Naruto to have a relatively normal childhood, to keep the other children from making their decisions based on what their parents told them.

But it hadn't worked out the way he'd planned.

Parents found other ways to isolate Naruto, to keep their children from wanting to play or get to know the young blond. Sarutobi should have known that even without the parents expressly telling their children not to associate with him, that their body language towards the boy would tip their children off.

Body language was big with children, almost as much as it was to a veteran ninja.

And with Naruto telling his teammates this… Sarutobi could only hope that they wouldn't shun him for what he couldn't help.

Sarutobi wondered if he should ban them from telling others the secret, or if he should give them the benefit of Naruto's trust. He'd given it to two missing Nin after he'd questioned them thoroughly, had even trusted them not to spy on the village, allowing them to live with Naruto while they looked for their own lodgings, all on the trust that Naruto had given them.

If the Hidden Mist HAD sent them as spies, the Kage of Hidden Mist was surely plotting a take over after seeing how easily his Nin had been accepted…

But Naruto Trusted them. All four of them.

He Trusted them enough for them to know about the Nine Tailed Fox.

Sarutobi frowned at the paperwork littering his desk.

Perhaps…

Telling them of the Fox would likely be a large deterrent for any move against the village. They obviously liked the blond enough, even respected him, but telling them of what power he housed would also let them know that Naruto was, and could be very dangerous.

Sarutobi couldn't quite believe that it had been planned from Naruto, or if he was trying to show the level of trust he had for them…

Either way, the messages had been sent, received, and approved.

The two missing Nin were Konoha residences and their admission as Ninja for the village, if they so chose, was open for consideration after a probation period.

Hmm…

His pipe blew smoke as he sighed once more, and a speck of ash fell onto the document on top of his desk.

It was the report about the fire that was Naruto's apartment.

The entire building had to be refurbished, and the landowner was looking to make it into a one apartment store complex, with the main floor a rotisserie and the upstairs his home.

He did not want to give a home to Naruto any longer, as his apartment complex had lost business being associated as his 'home'.

As his Lair.

Cave.

Den.

The fire had been set by vandals, civilian vandals, and the neighborhood had stayed firm in not revealing the culprits.

One Nora Horsc, a neighbor, had tried to help, but she had only gotten home in time to see the crowds gathering around the apartment, and then to tell Naruto.

As there had been n demands from the property owner to investigate, it would be a breach in protocol to bring in any of his Ninja skilled in the mind arts.

He couldn't exactly bring the entire neighborhood to Ibiki, but Inoichi…

Sarutobi shook his head at those thoughts. There was no point in dwelling on what he could do in other circumstances.

What he had to do was figure out a new home for Naruto, and a way to get new belongings for what he had lost.

He also had to figure out how he was going to introduce Naruto's new… changes to the Ninja Council. No doubt the Civilian Council would insist on being a part of it, though it was quite clear that they had no say in the matter.

Nothing wrong would be done to Naruto, as he would be able to have Kakashi's every confidence that he is of no danger, though it would be good to have Inoichi look into the matter to prove to the rest of the council… Even though Kakashi had spent several weeks with Naruto after his change, training and discovering his abilities, there would be some who would doubt, wondering if the Fox had somehow managed to trick the Copy cat Ninja.

No doubt there would be uproar about how it was the Foxes influence that brought about the changes, and he was a danger to the village… The Civilian Council, if they tried to get involved in the matter, would likely try to have him banished, or perhaps culled to protect the village.

Sarutobi frowned.

The Civilian Council had been getting rather demanding for their position. They were asking about Ninja affairs, something that he could not give out to them, and had been making 'suggestions' about how to run their organization.

If they tried to interfere, it would be a good chance to remind them exactly what they had jurisdiction over, and what they had no say in.

And neither they nor the Ninja Council had any say in who was banished, or killed, in his village.

But what to do about housing….

He looked at the plain box sitting on the third shelf of his cabinet, and a niggling o an idea took root.

When Naruto had been checked out at the Hospital, there had been mention that his improved physic and bloodline ability would be passed down to his children, something that gave him an official bloodline trait to pass on.

And being the only member, it would make him…

Yes.

Yes, that would do very well…

Sarutobi signed the document in front of him, allowing Naruto's old apartment to be made into a store/apartment, and began to collect the proper paperwork to move everything forward.

By the next day, Naruto would have a new home and new belongings, and by the Council meeting at the end of the week everything would be set in stone.

Sarutobi thought about Naruto's ability, and frowned at one argument that might be brought up. Naruto had mentioned it earlier that day, but now that he thought on it… It would be difficult for him certainly, and while Sarutobi was sad to know that Naruto would lose some of his innocence by it, it was likely to be needed. H frowned at the thought of Naruto having to sacrifice more than he already had.

Sarutobi wrote out a note for Ibiki, and asked for a meeting for late the next day.

He wondered if he would be interested in having a part-time pupil.

Even if Naruto did not take it p as his specialty, it would protect him and keep complaints from taking root and growing into something insidious and invasive.

Yes, it seemed that things would be moving along nicely…

TBC

Yay for updates! I will update in a while, have ACTUALLY updated the Happening now bit on my profile, check it out if you want to know why I happen to fail at updating reguarily for the past while.

Please review!

**P.S. Timeline challenge of last chapter is in days and weeks and whatnot, not just telling me what has happened in my own story :D How long do you think the entire story has taken, in all 13 other glorious chapters?**

Ciao~

~Doodled93~


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